“I can try, Kelli. Just tell me what I can do,” Kayla said softly, her voice tinged with desperation as she knelt down, trying to meet Kelli’s eyes. Talisa came up beside her, another looming figure in Kelli’s ever-shrinking world.
“We both want to help you,” Talisa added, her voice surprisingly gentle for someone so towering. “You’re not alone. We care about you.”
But Kelli barely registered their words. They felt hollow, like well-meaning but ultimately useless comforts in a world that had turned cruelly against her. She looked up at Talisa, ayet another giant, another reminder of everything she wasn’t anymore.
“I don’t want to live like this,” Kelli said, her voice breaking under the weight of her frustration. “That’s the problem. I want to be Kelli Wallace. I want to go back to college. I want to be excited about my future, blazing my own path into the unknown. Instead, I’m just… here. Stuck. I’m not me anymore. You said you always envied me, Kayla, always wished you could be me. But guess what? It’s all just a joke now. I’m just a joke.”
Kayla opened her mouth to respond, but Talisa cut in with a smirk. “Well, at least you’re not a big joke.”
“TALISA!” Kayla snapped, giving her friend a harsh glare.
“Sorry! I thought it’d lighten the mood.” Talisa’s face fell, genuine regret in her eyes as she realized her mistake.
Kelli let out a bitter laugh, shaking her head. “Look at me. I’m stuck in this concrete jungle being consoled by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum when it comes to social skills.” The small laugh that escaped her lips wasn’t really out of humor, but more out of disbelief. How had her life come to this?
Kayla sighed, kneeling closer, her concern palpable. “I know it’s hard, Kelli. It’s not fair, and it’s cruel, what happened to you, and to everyone like you. But your life doesn’t have to be over.” Her eyes softened as she looked at her sister. “This isn’t any different than if you’d been in a car accident and lost the ability to walk.”
“Yeah,” Talisa chimed in, more earnestly now. “Or if you woke up blind one day. You’d have to figure out how to keep going.”
“Exactly,” Kayla continued. “It’s about finding a new normal. You’re never going to be the old Kelli Wallace again. I’m sorry. But you know what? I’ll never be the old Kayla either. None of us stay the same, Kelli. Life changes us. Some people just have to change more than others.” Her words carried a kind of quiet strength, as if she were speaking from experience, from her own sense of feeling overlooked, unimportant.
Kelli stood there, fists clenched at her sides, trying to absorb what Kayla was saying. But it felt impossible. She didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t want to accept this as her life.
“Besides,” Talisa added with a playful nudge, her tone brightening, “you’re still thriving, if you ask me. I mean, how many people catch Smallara and already have a guy totally into them? I saw the way you and Jordan act around each other.”
Kelli’s brow furrowed, taken off guard. “What? Jordan?”
“Oh please, don’t play dumb. You two are totally into each other. I don’t even have a boyfriend, and I’m immune!” Talisa gave a mock pout before grinning. “You get infected, shrink, and still land on your feet. You want to know why? Because you’re Kelli freaking Wallace at any size.”
Kelli blinked, her frustration momentarily interrupted by Talisa’s words. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, despite everything. She was still mad, still overwhelmed, but maybe, just maybe, there was a part of her that hadn’t completely disappeared.
“You’ve always been unstoppable,” Kayla added, her voice soft but sure. “And that hasn’t changed, no matter what size you are.”
For a moment, the world didn’t seem quite as big or as terrifying. Kelli still felt lost, still felt like everything was out of her control. But looking up at her sister and Talisa, she realized that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t as alone as she thought.
“I guess… maybe we can try this,” Kelli said, her voice dripping with mock exasperation, though there was a trace of a smile hidden behind her words. She wasn’t okay, not really, but she could at least appreciate their efforts. They were trying, and maybe, just maybe, they weren’t entirely wrong. She just needed time to process it all, to think things through when her head wasn’t spinning with frustration.
“Alright, alright. Enough of this heart-to-heart. Just, make with the hand already,” she grumbled, her tiny arms crossed in defiance. “It’s awkward talking to your shoes.”
Kayla laughed softly, lowering her hand down to Kelli. “And there she is. The real Kelli Wallace is back.” Then, with a playful tilt of her head, she added, “Wait a minute… am I Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum?”
“I feel like if you have to ask, you’re definitely Tweedle Dum,” Talisa chimed in with a grin, her teasing landing right where she wanted it.
“That checks out,” Kelli said with a smirk, walking into Kayla’s open palm. She settled into her sister’s hand, feeling the familiar warmth and steady grip as Kayla lifted her. For the first time in what felt like forever, the weight in her chest lightened, just a little.
Best pairing. Almost teared up from how they interact with each other. Kayla and Kelli are just awesome lol
FACTS!!! I legit cried tears of joy for a pair that actually it letting it all out talking and being honest and speaking their opinions and feeling about things !!! It’s great to see in all honesty lol
People really like Kayla and Kelli. If they were killed off in a tragic car accident I feel like comment section would riot lol.
in all seriousness though I know people have been looking forward to this series so hopefulyl it pays off for everyone.
There was a great talk between the sisters to help Kelli feel a little better about her situation. Talisia gave some great advice on moving forward, even if Kelli was blind.
It does make me wonder about little with disabilities like blindness, deafness, and physical and mental disabilities and wondering what happens to them in the world of Smallara.
Was thinking about that the other day too.
Yeah same I was thinking that as well would be very interesting to see how they adapt to things around them
Kelli is definately partially not wanting to hear it or accept it even if she knows it to be true.
Kayla and Kelli do genuinely care about each other so the interactions are normally framed that way.
As far as littles with disabilities it would really dependon the disability and where they are when it happens.
A number of disabilities could get you killed before you are even found or make discovery more difficult.
As far as mental, there is such a wide variance from adhd to down syndrome. Physical disabilites i would feel like woudl be more cut and dry. if you are a paralyzed It woudl probably be difficult to live long term and your quality of life would be pretty low.
But I think most people know the answer in their heart of hearts as those same people even if they are immune aren’t treated all that great by most people and society.
FINALLY !!!! A pairing that doesn’t hold back there real feeling out of fear or mistrust or some other thing that hold them from having this important conversation!!!! Thank god all mighty I been waiting for this kind of moment
10/10 moment
Peak CINEMA
THIS IS CINEMA!!!!!!
I thought you more then anyone else would enjoy this episode as its like fast and furious series. Its about family.
KELLI X JORDAN MOVEMENT !!!!!! It grows and full steam ahead baby yoooooooo
“IM J VADER AND I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE”
It’s so good to see characters being reasonable in this dystopian world. I’m glad to see that Kelli is still treated like a human and that Kayla isn’t buying into the madness that Cindy taught Madison, that her real sister is gone.
Kayla wouldn’t be the type to listen to Cindy’s podcast or watch her videos. UNless she was a speaker at school where she had to attend i can’t see her buying in.
Kayla is generally pretty level headed. So it kind of shows in how she approaches things.
1.1) “I can try, Kelli. Just tell me what I can do,” This is why I like Kayla, most guardians have a “get over it” attitude towards their little’s struggles she’s a lot more compassionate than Sara, Mal or Maddie.
1.2) “We both want to help you, You’re not alone. We care about you.” Oh I’m liking Talisa
2) “But Kelli barely registered their words. They felt hollow, like well-meaning but ultimately useless comforts in a world that had turned cruelly against her” after the events of episode 4, I don’t blame her.
3.1) “I don’t want to live like this,” the solution she wants is a physical impossibility
3.2) “But guess what? It’s all just a joke now. I’m just a joke.” She’s already giving up
4) “Well, at least you’re not a big joke.” Dam it Talisa, Kayla’s reaction was appropriate/
5) “Look at me. I’m stuck in this concrete jungle being consoled by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum when it comes to social skills.” jokes are a good sign, it shows she isn’t scared of them.
6.1) “I know it’s hard, Kelli. It’s not fair, and it’s cruel, what happened to you, and to everyone like you. But your life doesn’t have to be over.” trying to reassure her is lovely
6.2) “This isn’t any different than if you’d been in a car accident and lost the ability to walk.” oh yes it is, In both of those situations she’d still have rights and freedom.
7) “You’re never going to be the old Kelli Wallace again. I’m sorry. But you know what? I’ll never be the old Kayla either. None of us stay the same, Kelli. Life changes us. Some people just have to change more than others.” that is not even close to a fair comparison, Kelli’s been changed forcefully against her will, Kayla’s been changed gradually overtime due to normal things, she’s also mostly been in control.
8) “you’re still thriving, if you ask me. I mean, how many people catch Smallara and already have a guy totally into them? I saw the way you and Jordan act around each other.” Jordan I think still has feelings for Emily before anything he feels with for or with Kelli.
9) “You get infected, shrink, and still land on your feet. Do you want to know why? Because you’re Kelli freaking Wallace at any size.” Somehow I suspect Kelli would prefer being immune and single than infected and having someone allegedly crushing on her, I also don’t think Kelli views it as landing on her feet.
10) “She was still mad, still overwhelmed, but maybe, just maybe, there was a part of her that hadn’t completely disappeared” I’m glad and surprised that that somehow worked.
11) ““You’ve always been unstoppable, And that hasn’t changed, no matter what size you are.” Encouragement is good, though still seems hollow to me.
12) “Kelli still felt lost, still felt like everything was out of her control. But looking up at her sister and Talisa, she realized that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t as alone as she thought” that’s actually a realistic and reasonable outcome.
13) “She wasn’t okay, not really, but she could at least appreciate their efforts. They were trying, and maybe, just maybe, they weren’t entirely wrong. She just needed time to process it all, to think things through when her head wasn’t spinning with frustration.” that’s some pretty quick development for Kelli, goes to show you the sisterly bond between Kayla and Kelli, maybe even Talisa too.
14) “Alright, alright. Enough of this heart-to-heart” No not enough heart-to-heart, this world needs so much more heart-to-heart.
15) “And there she is. The real Kelli Wallace is back.” well closer to her anyway.
16) “Wait a minute… am I Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum?” “I feel like if you have to ask, you’re definitely Tweedle Dum,” “That checks out,” I’m glad they’re laughing her insult off rather than lashing out at it.
17) “She settled into her sister’s hand, feeling the familiar warmth and steady grip as Kayla lifted her. For the first time in what felt like forever, the weight in her chest lightened, just a little.” I love a hopeful ending.
1.1) Mals compassion is based on how she feels about you. The less she cares, the less compassionate she woudl be to your plight as she wouldn’t care about hte person.
Madison is fair. Shes not the most compassionate person. Not that she is devoid of it but becuase of how she views littles its less
Sara I would say is middle of the road as she has shown Jordan moments of compassion but also moments where she hasn’t.
1.2)Talisa and Kayla are friends for a reason. If she wasn’t a good person Kayla wouldn’t hang out with her.
2) She was talking more about the whole picture since it happened not just a particular event.
3) It is, but it doesn’t mak her want it any less.
3.2) Well its not like this just happened to her. Shes been a little for a bit. Long enough where I feel like giving up already seems kinda harsh.
4) thats part of the Talisa and Kayla charm. They don’t always say the right thing at hte right time.
5) She definately doens’t fear them. Especially not Kayla.
6) She is trying her best
6.2) well thats true but its not rights Kelli is upset about. Its more the loss or inability to do what she did before which is something people with disabilities have to deal with.
7) Its fair in that its life though. Everyone is dealt a different hand. Some people have better starting positions then others.
Life is like a ladder. Some people start on the ground, some people start almost at top and there is a plethora of starts in between.
Everyone has a different journey and just becaue its not fair doesn’t mean a person can’t overcome change and adversity to reach the goal.
8) Well she broke up with him. So that be natural. However it hasn’t been specifically stated or gone into if he is over her or not.
9) Kelli doesn’t but in comparison to many other littles its landing on her feet.
10) Hope is a powerful thing.
11) They are trying their best to cheer Kelli up.
12) Talisa knows her stuff.
13) yeah and Kayla and Kelli are close. They aren’t enemies or anything
14) There is a happiness limit in this series..lol jk.
15) near Kelli
16) sometimes all you can do is laugh it off.
17) They can’t all be negative
1.1) Mal’s compassion leaves a lot to be desired even for people she allegedly cares about like Gavin who is routinely ignored and spoken over.
Sara’s compassion is strictly conditional, she’s not naturally compassionate person.
1.2) Kayla hangs out with Tamara, Sara and Mal not really a great argument.
2) I know, but I do get why Kelli wouldn’t see it that way.
3.2) True enough.
4) I can relate to that,
5) Excellent.
6.1) I know.
6.2) I get that, but her loss of rights would factor into that, though I agree real life disabled people could relate to Kelli’s plight, (It’s actually something I’m looking to explore between Nessa and Cai)
7) I see what you mean, though Kelli and all littles have an almost cartoonishly cruel disadvantage.
9) She’s better off than other littles, but thanks kind of like bragging about having the least stinky poop.
12) Seems like it
17) That’s nice
1.2) Kayla doesn’t willingly hangout with Tamara though. It just allowed her to be picked on less or not as harshly.
Sara has been pretty nice to Kayla. Overall Sara is a good person in my opinion. She has questioning values towards little but that’s just one aspect of her. I wouldn’t judge anyone solely by just one thing.
Kayla and Mal are teammates sofar while they do things together it more in the confines of teammates like with training and preparation. Its not like Mal has invited kayla over to do anything. That has mostly been Sara including Kayla into things.
1.2) that’s fair about Tamara.
In my defence that one aspect of Sara’s personality is the most prominent one displayed. Other parts of Sara’s personality are either a front she puts up or told to us by her friends, mostly Chloe or Ellie, who would both happily lie for Sara to make her look better.
Mal pulled strings and used her influence to get Kayla on the same team as her though. I’d say that’s more than just team mates.
I hope you create a Little movement to fight the oppression of the Para littles. I think with some camera friendly littles like Jordin and Kelli, they could get young people to fight for littles and stop obeying the government and little corporate machine that oppresses them. Talk about civil rights movement lol.
this one hit me hard because I had my dream job of being a aerospace engineer and a dad taking his family of vacations all over the world and doing all kinds of crazy stuff like high mountain skiing with my daughter and My life got destroyed 5 years ago when I got hit by a car going 45 miles a hour and I was on my motorcycle in a turn lane. I am a complete paralyzed person from my waste down and cant do anything I used to do. I had to medically retire from my job and now like Kelli I have to rely on my wife and daughter for simple stuff like driving me places. It was weird reading because like Kelli I had a lot of friends but after I got hurt they all bailed because I was always the indestructible one who did anything and now I was a vision of what could happen to them. that’s what the trauma doc said anyway lol. Ironically I died on impact and I only remember being dead and heard my wife’s voice bring me back from death because the medics told her to keep talking because I stopped being flat lined. I am glad my wife was in her car following me out from or lunch spot or I would have stayed dead so i guess I was reborn in my Brocken body like the smallara people. Like Kelli I’ve always tried to help people and of course wasn’t perfect but like many when stuff like this happens you wounder what I did to deserve this. The one thing I learned being in the trauma hospital being put back together, there is always somebody that has it worse. I have lived 20 life times of stuff in my 50 years and have a amazing family and lifestyle even injured and their are 19 year old guys that got wiped out on their rice rocket or another young guy got shot in the back and they will never be able to reach their poetical and live a full life. I guess in a long winded way I’m saying this weeks writing hit home pretty hard. Nice writing and being able to know how devastating a major like change can be to somebody.
Ironically I’m one of the OG gen ex gaming geeks and live near Nintendo America and Microsoft and had friend’s that worked there and since I had money as a kid I had my own party house and we would build computers and also have hooked up a nes or super NES with new unreleased games because my friend had to beat it to tell people how to get through it and we also did land line fights with our head sets and helped get that part of gaming going with doom of course lol. Ok I really need to shut up lol.
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You have literal first fist hand expierence of what Kelli is going through. Your situation which I wasn’t aware of when I wrote this. Is kind of what I used in my head to picture what it would be like as it was the only thing I could think of which would be a parallel.
That kind of having to put yourself back together and find new things to live for, and strive for, etc. which it seems like you have are things Kelli has to figure out along with learning to have to rely on people in a way she never had to or thought she would have to before.