Joey lay in the gently swaying hammock, staring up at the clear sky above his new home. The day had been a whirlwind—ending better than he could have hoped—but unease lingered beneath his relief. He knew that Roni would care for him, love him, make sure he was happy and healthy, but Joey couldn’t stop thinking about the parts of being her little that neither of them considered. What happens when she goes to college? Would he factor into her decisions at all, or would he have to fall in line and do everything she wants? The more he thought about that being the possibility, even Roni becoming less interested in him as life goes on, made him really question existence as a whole. What would be the point of life if he ends up stuck in a glass display case for whomever Roni brings by hanging out with her to see, assuming she’d let them even interact with him.
Groaning, Joey shook his head vehemently. Roni wouldn’t do that, he thought. Sure her life will go on, and she’ll develop new interests, but she wouldn’t just abandon him, reduce him to just a spectator in her life. They’re best friends, brother and sister now, he reasoned, and she actively went out of her way to help him without asking for anything in return. No, Roni would find ways to keep him involved with her life, Joey was sure of it.
Still though, Joey wasn’t too certain as to what that would look like in the future. His new mother and father seemed to add some extra requirements and responsibilities to the agreement when he hadn’t been in the room. While he reasoned Roni would most likely abide by them while she was living at home, part of him thought about what he would be like after that happened. Would he still be himself? Or would he be a shell of himself, with his personality altered to better fit her needs. How much of his humanity would actually be left when it was all said and done? Joey didn’t want to think about these possibilities, he didn’t even think Roni would change herself, but Tonya’s quote rang in his ears. “Change begets change. Nothing propagates so fast” he whispered to himself under his breath. “How fast will we both change? How drastic?”
The sounds of approaching footsteps broke his train of thought, and he bent his head back slightly to see Roni approaching, a warm smile on her face. Joey knew that she had been doing some of her own thinking. She might be a good actress, but it would take more than her theatre prowess to trick him into thinking she hadn’t just spent a long time in her own quiet contemplation.
As Roni approached, she tried to keep a warm, upbeat persona, though she figured Joey could see right through it. He can always read me, if we played poker, I highly doubt I’d ever be able to bluff him, she mused to herself as she got closer to the hammock, seeing him look up at her, returning her smile with one of his own.
“Hey Big bro. You wanted to see me” she teased, amusement sparkling in her eyes as she held up her phone with his text message up for him to see.
Chuckling to himself, Joey rolled to his side and sat up, grinning at her. “Of course, baby sister. Though I guess my other message hadn’t gone through. Was hoping you could bring me a snack and a soda” he retorted
“You’re such a dork, Joey!” Roni laughed as she sat next to him on the hammock, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow.
“Hey now, I’m your older, amazing brother now, Roni. Being a dork is part of the job!”
Roni covered her mouth as she laughed, and once she was done, the two sat quietly and stared out into the yard.
“So, big bro—”
“Amazing big bro!” Joey interrupted with comical emphasis.
“Ugh…fine! Amazing big bro” she said with faux irritation in her voice and a smirk on her lips, “What’s up? You..haven’t seemed as excited as I thought you would be after everything…”
Joey’s smile faltered and he looked away again, staring out into space as he replayed his and Tonya’s conversation over in his head again. Rolling his neck and letting out a sigh, he looked back over at her. “Roni, I have no words for this….I’ve never felt gratitude like this…you…saved me. You talked our parents and my parents into….letting me a Hale, and letting me be your eventual little…I get to have family that doesn’t make me question my worth, or whether or not I’m loved….I am…” he paused and shifted closer, before wrapping his arms around her, burying his face into the crook of her neck, “I am so…so fucking grateful for what you’ve done….and so happy you are my friend…”
Roni was stunned for a moment before hugging him back, running her had up and down his back in comforting protectiveness. “Oh Joey…” she whispered, “I’ll never let anything happen to you…and I swear whatever form you take, you’ll be my best friend”
The two pulled apart and exchanged smiles before Joey took a deep breath and his expression became more serious. “Roni…I…I think that I’m going to be a little sooner than we thought…much, much sooner…”
Roni’s smile dropped, and she looked at her brother in confusion, before shaking her head in disbelief. “I..no that can’t be right, Joey…there’s no way you could know wh–”
Joey interrupted before she could continue. “Roni, I’m showing symptoms…Tonya picked up on them as soon as we met. She…told me a lot of what I’m experiencing is what she felt before the cold symptoms people with Smallara display prior to…the change”
Roni’s eyes went wide as she considered what Joey just told her. Internally, she felt a mix of emotions. Guilt that they hadn’t caught all of this sooner, sadness that, any day now, Joey would be a little and she’d have to have him shipped off to a facility until she completed her training. Rather than deal with these emotions, though, she let out a frustrated huff and directed everything towards Tonya. “So she did say something to upset you. Well, whatever. What does she know anyway? How do you know it isn’t some kind of…generitech trick?”
“Roni, stop!”, snapped Joey, glaring at her. “First off, working with Generitech was your idea. Second, why would they tell me I’m going to shrink soon if it wasn’t true? What could they possibly gain from lying about that?” What? You think it’s just some clever way to start getting us to buy some of their products? Does that really make sense, Roni? Use your head!”
She bit her lip and her face became more frustrated. “I don’t know, Joey! They aren’t exactly the most forthcoming with their littles in the first place…were you aware that they do relegations of their littles? The ones that are deemed not good enough for cities are sent to research, and those not good for research are sold off to the public!”
Joey shook his head in disbelief, “I’m sure they have their reasons, Roni. Tonya seemed completely happy with her situation there, and she made it seem that all the littles owned by Generitech are happy with their situation!”
“Oh come on, Joey! Of course she’s going to say that; she’s an employee of theirs, little or otherwise! Look at all the stories we’ve read online from Guardians and some of the leaked stories about them! I know you had your heart set on working with them, but you can’t let that cloud your judgment!”
The two of them stared at each other fiercely. This wasn’t how Joey had wanted this conversation to go at all. He needed her to understand he didn’t have much time and that she needed to be ready for when it happens. Otherwise they may miss the window and not get him checked in on time and she’d be in trouble.
Finally, after taking a deep breath, Joey relaxed and really looked at Roni. She wasn’t mad or frustrated with Tonya’s diagnosis, and she wasn’t fully distrustful of Generitech or their motives. No, she was sad; sad that he was going to change faster than either of them had thought. Joey knew she saved him, but he could see in her eyes that Roni just thought there was more time, and the realization that it wasn’t true clearly caused her much more pain than even she would have expected.
Sighing, Joey smiled at her, causing Roni’s eyebrow to raise quizzically. “You know, she had a lot of great things to say about you–that she could see how fiercely protective you are of me, that she can tell you’ll care for me and love me–just from that one visit, she thought very highly of you as a potential guardian. I don’t blame her either, ya know? You’re pretty amazing, when you aren’t dragging me to crap you know I’ll hate.”
Roni pouted when she heard this. “You don’t hate the things I take you too! You just think you will until you’re there!” However, she couldn’t hold her pout for long, thinking about what Tonya had told him. She couldn’t deny that a lot of her thoughts and plans for Joey as a little were mostly centered around making sure he was happy. Hell, thought Roni, if Joey had any idea on how many things she was considering changing in her life just for him, he’d probably throw a fit.
Finally, taking a deep breath, she took Joey’s hands and looked him in the eyes. “Joey, please, can you just…tell me what it was you both talked about? I want to be in the loop; I want to help…”
Joey’s expression softened and he nodded, taking the next few minutes to explain not only what it was that Tonya told him about his symptoms, but about her life pre-smallara, Little culture, and what he should expect once he shrinks.
“Man, those symptoms sound more like super powers…you could really see all of that where we were on the stairs at your parents house?” asked Roni with curiosity and wonder.
“Mhmm, I sure could. I even noticed this week that II can see in the dark from time to time. I’m like a drow!” Joey said jokingly, with Roni giggling in agreement.
Still, one part of his and Tonya’s talk didn’t sit with Roni.
“Change begets change? She’s very well read, isn’t she…” quipped Roni, mostly out of surprise than anything.
Chuckling at her remark, Joey nodded. “What would you expect from a nearly 30 year old, in human years, college graduate and former lawyer, Roni?”
Roni smiled at this momentarily, before really taking the time to consider the words. Am I really going to change, she asked herself as she took in the back yard as the sun began to set. I mean, sure some things with life will change and I’ll need to follow suit to keep up but, I won’t turn into one of those people that I and Joey both hate, right? One of the guardians that see littles as subservient pets that are just higher up than dogs and cats but still not as humans.
Her thoughts turned towards that streamer Joey had mentioned Tonya told him about. Roni had seen some of Sarandipty’s content and she paid close attention to Littledipity. He seemed to be well adjusted, with a personality not too different from Joeys, though she did notice that Sarandipty did give him commands that he followed obediently. Would that be what her and Joey’s relationship would be? Roni giving commands, and Joey following them unquestioningly.
“Joey…” she asked quietly as she turned to him, “You…don’t think I’m going to change, do you? You know I’ll have your back no matter what, right?”
Joey looked at her quietly before standing up from the hammock and taking a big stretch. He turned towards her, and leaned in close, so close that their noses were almost touching.
“I think…” he started, as he brought his hands up to her face, Roni’s heart rate suddenly skyrocketed. He then smirked deviously and snatched her glasses from off her face before jumping back a few feet. “That this is the perfect chance to get revenge on you for taking my truck keys!” and with that, he ran off towards that house laughing loudly.
With a mix of surprise, amusement, and annoyance, Roni jumped up and chased after him. “Joey you jerk! Bring me back my glasses before I kick your ass!”
The two would run in the backyard for a few minutes until their mom would call them inside to let them know dinner was ready. Though the future felt uncertain, one thing remained clear: they had each other, and that was enough—for now..
1) “What happens when she goes to college? Would he factor into her decisions at all, or would he have to fall in line and do everything she wants?” very real and important questions.
2) “even Roni becoming less interested in him as life goes on” friends can drift apart.
3) “Would he still be himself? Or would he be a shell of himself, with his personality altered to better fit her needs” his personality would likely adapt to fit his own needs so fitting hers isn’t out of the question.
4) “Hey Big bro. You wanted to see me… Of course, baby sister. Though I guess my other message hadn’t gone through. Was hoping you could bring me a snack and a soda” That is their most sibling interaction yet, I love it.
5) “I’m your older, amazing brother now, Roni. Being a dork is part of the job!” he should know, he was already an older brother to Johnny, he has experience.
6) “You talked our parents and my parents into” good that he already calls them that.
7) “Roni…I…I think that I’m going to be a little sooner than we thought…much, much sooner…” it’s good that he said it, no matter how hard it was for him.
8) “though, she let out a frustrated huff and directed everything towards Tonya” Right emotion wrong outlet, she has to know Tonya was only looking out for Joey.
9) “I don’t know, Joey! They aren’t exactly the most forthcoming with their littles in the first place…were you aware that they do relegations of their littles? The ones that are deemed not good enough for cities are sent to research, and those not good for research are sold off to the public!” that’s part of my suspicion of the company, their littles are treated better than Preema tech’s but I know there’s a lot left ot be desired.
10.1) “and she made it seem that all the littles owned by Generitech are happy with their situation!” It probably wouldn’t bode well for her if she talked shit about her employer/owner. (Literally Roni’s next line lol)
10.2) “Look at all the stories we’ve read online from Guardians and some of the leaked stories about them” now that has my attention.
11) “. “You know, she had a lot of great things to say about you” good time to butter her up.
12) “if Joey had any idea on how many things she was considering changing in her life just for him, he’d probably throw a fit” how dare she, lol.
13) “I even noticed this week that II can see in the dark from time to time. I’m like a drow!” good reference.
14) “What would you expect from a nearly 30 year old, in human years” She’s 25, that’s not nearly thirty you little bugger.
15) “though she did notice that Sarandipty did give him commands that he followed obediently” that would be a red flag to these two.
16) “Roni giving commands, and Joey following them unquestioningly.” I’m sure they’d be able to come up with a healthier version of events.
17) “He then smirked deviously and snatched her glasses from off her face before jumping back a few feet” No! Bad Joey! taking her glasses is not an appropriate retaliation for her taking your keys, that’s too far.
1) “What happens when she goes to college? Would he factor into her decisions at all, or would he have to fall in line and do everything she wants?” very real and important questions.
frightening too when you consider just how long they’ll be together for, though maybe he’d adapt during their time together
2) “even Roni becoming less interested in him as life goes on” friends can drift apart.
sad fact of life. I just hope Roni wouldn’t drift apart from Joey consider it was her idea to be his gaurdian and to have her parents adpot him. that’d be a really devistating blow, for me at least.
3) “Would he still be himself? Or would he be a shell of himself, with his personality altered to better fit her needs” his personality would likely adapt to fit his own needs so fitting hers isn’t out of the question.
yeah. I think he’s afraid of completely losing himself in the process. Change doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but replacing all your interests with someone elses isn’t healthy.
4) “Hey Big bro. You wanted to see me… Of course, baby sister. Though I guess my other message hadn’t gone through. Was hoping you could bring me a snack and a soda” That is their most sibling interaction yet, I love it.
doing my best to get these interactions right. the closest sibling I have in terms of age is 6 years older than me, so I didn’t really get that much experience with it lol
5) “I’m your older, amazing brother now, Roni. Being a dork is part of the job!” he should know, he was already an older brother to Johnny, he has experience.
True, but I’d say his and Johnny’s relationship was a little bit different
6) “You talked our parents and my parents into” good that he already calls them that.
I agree. it’s probably the easiest thing for him to completely accept at this point, which is a good place to start
7) “Roni…I…I think that I’m going to be a little sooner than we thought…much, much sooner…” it’s good that he said it, no matter how hard it was for him.
It’d be wrong for him to keep it a secret from her at this point. She’d be liable if he wasn’t brought into a Genericare center, and they would eventually do check ins at a certain point.
8) “though, she let out a frustrated huff and directed everything towards Tonya” Right emotion wrong outlet, she has to know Tonya was only looking out for Joey.
I think she would, but the shock of what he just told her probably wouldn’t let her be too rational.
9) “I don’t know, Joey! They aren’t exactly the most forthcoming with their littles in the first place…were you aware that they do relegations of their littles? The ones that are deemed not good enough for cities are sent to research, and those not good for research are sold off to the public!” that’s part of my suspicion of the company, their littles are treated better than Preema tech’s but I know there’s a lot left ot be desired.
it’s defenitly possible. I like to think my interpertation of how their system looks and workds is fairly accurate, but it’s hard to say without something canononical to refer to directly. Most of my ideas for that piece came from Daytons training, so it’s technically hearsay from her teacher instead of something we’ve seen directly. With the “Tale from littlemart” piece out, I could have done a bit more with the store littles at that point lol
10.1) “and she made it seem that all the littles owned by Generitech are happy with their situation!” It probably wouldn’t bode well for her if she talked shit about her employer/owner. (Literally Roni’s next line lol)
10.2) “Look at all the stories we’ve read online from Guardians and some of the leaked stories about them” now that has my attention.
10) lol no probably not. And that’s something I was curious about myself. I’d think some disgruntled employee’s or undercover reporters would leak some information that wouldn’t paint Generitech in the best light, but at the same time, I’d wonder what it was they would have whitnessed and how they’d spin it for a compelling story for more views and clout.
11) “. “You know, she had a lot of great things to say about you” good time to butter her up.
He wanted to calm her down a bit, bring her back to center. Plus, Roni knows Tonya has Joey’s interest at heart, she’s just emotional from the whole day. Tonya and Mr. Hunter giving her their contact info was actually a last minute idea of mine as I hadn’t planned on them being reoccuring until I kinda realized that it wouldn’t make much sense to not hear from them every now and then.
12) “if Joey had any idea on how many things she was considering changing in her life just for him, he’d probably throw a fit” how dare she, lol.
Lol he doesn’t like people giving up things for his sake, makes him feel like a burden.
13) “I even noticed this week that II can see in the dark from time to time. I’m like a drow!” good reference.
stolen from Asuka from the other week lol
14) “What would you expect from a nearly 30 year old, in human years” She’s 25, that’s not nearly thirty you little bugger.
I did my maths wrong lol I keep forgetting when my own story takes place XD
15) “though she did notice that Sarandipty did give him commands that he followed obediently” that would be a red flag to these two.
It’s definetly be uncomfortable for them if they followed that idea.
16) “Roni giving commands, and Joey following them unquestioningly.” I’m sure they’d be able to come up with a healthier version of events.
I think there are ways of doing it respectfully. Like I could see the hand gesture being okay for when Roni is in a hurry but doesn’t want to outright grab Joey, but I could also see her typically letting him know when she’s going to pick him up or asking him to do things within reason. That’s a big part of the chores she’s been thinking of. She for sure won’t have him do something like what Madison and Kenzie are having Cindy do.
17) “He then smirked deviously and snatched her glasses from off her face before jumping back a few feet” No! Bad Joey! taking her glasses is not an appropriate retaliation for her taking your keys, that’s too far.
lol she can still see pretty decent without them. She did take his keys and lock herself inside the truck, too, until he agreed to come over to her house. I think it’s a little more fair given that whole sequence of events
Nice chapter:
thank you!
I HOPE THEY HAVE A BIG & LITTLE REALATIONSHIP THAT REBELLS AGIANST THE OUTSIDE WORLD RASIST RULES THAT DOESNT LIKE OTHERS RACES TO MARRY
I absolutely won’t rule anything out, but idk when they’d make a leap like that, if it ever happens. The really have seen each other as siblings so that would be a real hard view to break. Plus i’m still unsure what they’re guardian and little dynamic is going to be like. A romantic relationship between them would be even further development.
I do wonder what a healthy relationship between a little and human would look like though, as this far the two we’ve seen have not been good. One ended in divorce and one has Mallory being abhorently controlling. If there is a pre-existing healthy relationship though, I’d be interested in seeing it written canonically
i would like to see what a successful Big and little being real partners would be physically and mentally
If there is a chance for a successful one, that’d be cool to see. you’d think that the dynamic would just be too drastically different for it to work out though. that’s my main concern. the Big would have full say on top of their guardian training and would need to be extremely humble to let a little make decisions in the relationship
I’m sorry, but the Joey who in the previous chapters was disowned by his parents, treated like an animal and not a human being, who he fought for the rights of the little ones for his humanity before he even knew he was little, is not the same Joey from this chapter. In the dialogue in which Roni states that Generitech lowers the little ones according to their level, up to the lowest level that they are put up for sale, and Joey responds that Generitech has its reasons and simply destroyed the Joey that you built throughout the story. That Joey “died.” What we have now is a new character with the same name. Maybe that’s it. We will have a “new” Joey suited to the story of each chapter, who will think and act according to what is suited to the story of the chapter, no matter how incoherent or contradictory it may be with what the character was in the previous chapters.
Appreciate the feedback. You’re not wrong, I could have flushed out that dialogue a bit more and touched on his feelings regarding what she told him a bit more. It should have more a pause and a change to the argument and the tone and flow of the chapter. looking back on it now, it should have gone something like Joey pausing and looking at her with shock about it, asking for more information, how she knows that, trying to gain more info about it, etc. I would say that the one thing I do try to keep in mind is that, above all else, Joey does view generitech as the gold standard for Littles and the treatment of littles, so it’s likely that he would still arrive to a similar conclusion that there is a method to the madness, though I guess that doesn’t mean he has to outright accept it.
Normally I do write the chapters with a goal in mind as to what information and part of the story I want to convey, and this one was supposed to be more centered around him revealing that he’s experiencing symptoms and Roni’s reaction to it, but I try to be as consistent as I can.
This is my first story and I mess up a decent amount I think, so the feedback is genuinely appreciated. I really don’t want to write a bad story or anything like that. I’ll work on being more consistent as to not have a new character every chapter effect like you are seeing, as that is something I do worry about myself.
Do you know those people in our society (I speak for mine, Brazil) who were born rich and never lived in poverty but who are sensitive to the suffering of the poor and who want to help the poor? But they don’t know what it’s like to live in poverty and its causes, but despite their ignorance, they think they understand the subject and have the solution. In other words, they may be well-intentioned people, but as the saying goes, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” These people end up not understanding the true causes of a problem and the possible solutions. Transposing this discussion to your story, I can only understand Joey thinking that Generitec is “gold standard” in relation to the little ones, since he is one of those people who were sympathetic to the little ones’ problems and who thought he had the solution, when in fact Generitech is part of the problem. He is naive and doesn’t understand how the world really works, probably because he sees the problem from outside of it until the problem knocks on his door. In this sense, Roni is much more astute, she has a critical vision that Joey doesn’t have. She has already realized that Generitech is part of the problem and not the solution to the little ones’ problems. At the beginning of your story, I thought that the great character was Joey, I was very wrong, The great character in this story is Roni. I believe that she is the one who will perhaps open Joey’s eyes to the real problems of the little ones now that this is also his problem. Thinking like this, I owe you an apology. The Joey in this chapter is not contradictory in relation to the previous chapters. He has always been supportive of the little ones but does not understand the true causes of the little ones’ problems. In this sense, it is not strange that he thinks that Generitech is part of the solution and not part of the little ones’ problem. I hope that he becomes aware of this throughout the story and that Roni helps him with this. Hugs.
I think that is a fair observation of Joey. Realistically, both Joey and Roni are very idealistic on how they view this world. It’s kind of something that Teenagers just are like. They both share the same ideas on littles, too, in the sense that the only thing that really is stopping them from independent living is government mandates and laws, and a way to get a modern infrastructure put in place for them. It’s been in those areas that Generitech’s been the leaders in this world as they provide much, much more for littles than any other entity when they really don’t have to. They could go the route of Preema Tech and be completely profit driven, but based on the canon, they are more motivated in helping littles. Are they 100% altruistic? No. I don’t even think that and I’m probably the most pro-generitech person that reads the main story. THat being said, I do recognize that they are the ones that are doing the most that they can for the species than any other entity. The main obstacle working against them thus far has been the US Government as far as I can tell, as they have major control over the stream of information to the public, and the control of public perception and the public flow of information is a key issue for maintaining power. They do have to play the game in order to make sure they can provide for all littles the best they can and keep as many of them in their care as they can, which sucks, but that’s not too different from real world. Even the most benevolent of companies have to do this. All that being said, Joey does genuinely have his kinds best interests at heart. While I do agree he isn’t fully aware of what it is to be a little as he hasn’t been one yet, he still does recognize that they’re marginalized and mistreated, as you pointed out.
Regarding Roni, while you are right that she can be a bit more critical of Generitech, I wouldn’t necessarily say that she views Generitech as a major contribution to the problem. She doesn’t like their relegation methods, though they aren’t so dissimilar to crime and punishment in real life, but I don’t think she would see that and outright become disillusioned with Generitech and completely give up on them. After all, they did go through a lot of hoops themselves to make sure that the process that She and the Hales just went through to adopt Joey and make sure he ends up in Roni’s care put in place to make sure all future littles have that option and legal protections. There’d have been a lot of opposition for something specific like that in this world just based on how the united states has dealt with this sort of thing historically. We’d live in a very, very poor reality, in my opinion, if it were the case that if someone wasn’t 100% in agreement with our ideas, then we can no long support them. It’s pretty similar to this. If this were the thing that made Roni just never trust Generitech again, that would be a huge, huge flaw in her as both a character and a human. I wouldn’t even know how to move forward with the story with a character that needs that kind of personality as it’s just not realistic.
All of this aside, I still do acknowledge that Joey’s reaction to what Roni told him regarding relegation wasn’t done very well. My first draft did have a bit more but I removed it and didn’t go back to it. I probably could have brought it all up in a different chapter and it would have come out different and Joey would have had a reaction more inline with what I mentioned in my reply, though he’d still have faith in Generitech.
This story is great, I’m really enjoying it. Can’t wait until he finally shrinks, hope that will be soon. Thank you for all your time and effort on it.
Thank you! I’m looking forward to those chapters too. constantly thinking about them and have to calm myself down so I don’t get impatient lol