Kayla Episode 19: A Smallara Side Story

thanks, hard to believe that many episdoes in this universe exist.

I was working on a good girlfriend episode to celebrate but lost track of time.

These are gradually getting longer, lol

1) “It wasn’t like Talisa could treat her like just any Little” and how does Talisa treat ‘just any little’? I’m hoping her ‘dynamic’ with Kelli isn’t the only reason Talisa is being so nice, and that her true feelings about littles don’t align with Sara or the Wessens.

Talisa hasn’t been around many little besides Kelli. But a random little wouldn’t be a vastly different experience to how she treats Kelli. I’m sure Kelli would get some level fo special treatment or considerations as she knows her and is part of her life. BUt i think that’s true of everyone regardless of little or not. I would go more out of my way to help family or friends then I would a stranger. 

2) “The older sister Talisa had secretly had a crush on for what felt like forever.” well I’ll be damned dledge called it. Let’s hope she’s not as creepy as Ellie about it

I do think having crush and actually acting on it are two different things. I did laugh though when dledge predicted that the other day. I mean talisa has more just viewed Kelli as a crush but Kelli has also been away at college for a few years and Talisa has also gone on to live her life. Its not like she has been pining 

3) “She’d always been this larger-than-life figure in Talisa’s world, untouchable, like she existed in some far-off universe …And now… now she was right there. Small enough to fit in Talisa’s hand.” Smallara’s one hell of a drug.

This was more meant to be Talisa was astonished then power tripping or anything 

4) “Now, Kelli wasn’t the confident older girl who had everything together. She was… small, and maybe even unsure of herself” she’s lost so much and barely gained even a small amount back.

True for a lot of people who go through any kind of hardship. Its difficult to regain lost ground. Its hard to start over at square one and build yourself back up. 

5.1) “Why was she so nervous? She’d known Kelli for years, through Kayla” but never shared a private moment with her.

Also true. 

5.2) “no matter how much she tried to act casual, she couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d always looked up to Kelli” Well, Kelli would be flattered that she’s still looked up to.

Yes, not many people look up to littles. It would be a flattering. 

6.1) “The posters on the walls, the scattered clothes, the random clutter—it all must have looked huge and messy to Kelli” doesn’t sound that far off from Kayla’s room.

 You aren’t wrong. But Talisa is being very self conscious so probably not thinking along those lines. 

6.2) “It must be weird to look around at the world from a few inches tall.” oh, that sounds pretty close to empathy.

I wouldn’t say its uncommon to empathize with a littles plight. More uncommon to care as much as Talisa does. 

7.1) “unsure how to respond to that. Of course, it feels big, she thought. She’s the size of a doll” She could have responded by saying that part out loud, I’m sure Kelli would have loved it.

Kelli probably would have laughed.

7.2) “But there was something more to Kelli’s words than just the physical space. Talisa could hear it—the vulnerability behind them, the weight of realizing how small her world had become.” Kelli’s definitely in an awkward situation and understandably uncomfortable situation.

She did put herself partly in this situation. She was asking to go with Talisa to avoid going with Kayla. Granted Kayla also wanted some time apart. Kind of an awkward all around situation. You are right about that. 

8) “She wasn’t used to this—being out of Kayla’s watchful eye” She’s also not that used to being under it.

A unspoken security would be present with Kayla though as there would be. more trust with her sister then with Talisa. 

9) “Talisa wasn’t tall—only 5’3”-” Well that’s only an inch taller than Sara, keeping her at the smallest her age.

Every inch matters when you are inch-deprived.  

10) “You’ve been stuck with Kayla, like, 24/7, right?” well she has only been to school with Kayla once, so what is that 8hrs separation?

Well the term wasn’t meant to be taken quite that literally. Atleast in the States the term is often used to represent just you are generally with that person a lot 

11) “Talisa could see her biting her lip, something she remembered Kelli doing back in high school when she was stressed or annoyed. It was weirdly comforting, seeing that gesture again.” recognisable behavioural traits would be a comfort to the biggles.

Lets them know they are the same person they were on some level or that the person they knew is still there. 

12.1) “I thought I’d be glad to get away from Kayla for a bit,” They both clearly needed a break

They did. Sometimes after a fight its best to get some space and time apart. 

12.2) “She’s been hovering over me ever since I got out of the facility. But now… I don’t know. It feels weird being away from her.” That could be the bond forming, or just Kayla becoming the safety of familiarity.

Could be either but when I wrote it I was thinking the latter. As it was more just a safety from familiarity of being around Kayla and the natural trust built up as its her sister. 

13) “She was supposed to be in college, living her life, and now she was stuck being carried around by her little sister’s best friend. Talisa could only imagine how hard that must be.” more genuine sympathy and empathy from Talisa.

Talisa is a good person. So she does care more then some other characters. 

14) “Kayla’s just trying to help, I think she’s really worried about you.” Talisa going to bat for Kayla is good, I like that she’s not denying Kelli’s negative feelings and just trying to address them.

Talisa does recognize that Kelli has a right to feel how she feels. But is trying to help Kayla as well. 

 15.1) “I know she is. I know she’s trying. But I feel so… useless.” a feeling many littles would struggle with.

That is true. As they have to relearn how to live and live in a different way. It would be a large change. 

15.2) “I can’t do anything on my own anymore. Even coming here, I had to practically beg. It’s like I’m always at someone else’s mercy.” the total reliance and lack of independence seem like a very common and realistic struggle.

Struggle for people beyond littles in many parts of the world in reality but littles would definitely have that struggle. 

16.1) “You’re not useless, You’re still Kelli. That hasn’t changed.” Good encouragement Kelli, but missing telling Kelli anything Kelli can still do.

Kelli also didn’t ask. She could have said “like what?” or something along those lines. 

16.2) “Yeah, sure, Whatever that means now.” an understandable response.

It is, its also a but of Kelli licking her wounds as they say. 

17) “Talisa had always admired Kelli, and even now, even after Smallara had changed everything, those feelings hadn’t gone away. If anything, they were stronger. But how was she supposed to say that without making things weird?” crushing on a friend’s sibling is often weird and can easily lead to issues. Talisa’s social skills would certainly make it hard to avoid that.

Especialyl with Kayla’s also “top tier” social skills. Although Talisa hasn’t said she has any intent to act on her crush. It also could just be an innocent crush with no real desire to make it more than that. 

18) “Yeah. It’s better than third-wheeling Kayla’s date.”- “Yeah, I figured you’d rather do literally anything else.” I like this bond between them.

The anti Kayla date bond. 

19) “but she couldn’t help but think about how she used to fantasize about getting to know Kelli better back when they were in high school” Talisa and Kelli were never in high school together, Kelli is seven years above Talisa.

That was edited to school but you probably started reading before I edited it as it was up for like an hour like that before I realized the mistake. 

20) “From Kelli’s perspective, the room was probably more like a sprawling landscape than a teenager’s bedroom” Most rooms would be wildly different.

They would. They would be sizeable amount of land and space for a little. 

21) “She wanted to say something, to ask Kelli what it was like, but she didn’t want to make her feel worse.” might be nice for Kelli to talk about it, but Talisa’s talking skill probably isn’t on the level Kelli needs.

It is interesting dealing with characters who lake a bit of social ettiquite or knowledge. As it makes the conversations interesting. 

22) “Do you ever… get used to it?” – “What? Being small?” – “Yeah. Does it ever stop feeling… weird?” The only Littles we see who are used to it have been shrunk more than a year.

there would be a point in time where it becomes more normal. A year feels about right to fully accept the adjustment and get used to living 

23) “I guess I’m still figuring that out. Some days, it feels like this is just how things are now. But other days… Other days, it feels like I wake up and realize I’m not me anymore.” I love that she’s opening up about it.

She has little reason not to in this situation. Talisa is being genuine. 

24.1) “She hadn’t expected Kelli to open up like that, and now she didn’t know what to say. What could she say to make things better?” I was unsure if Talsia was up to the social challenge.

It was a good deduction. As Talisa would struggle as would Kayla. 

24.2) “She reached for her phone, trying to change the subject” probably for the best, you wouldn’t want Kelli breaking down without Kayla around to fix it (though Kayla’s social skill’s aren’t great either)

I was gonna say Kayla’s ability to fix it would be questionable as well. Sara, Mal, Ellie or Chloe would be much better equipped to deal with that kind of conversation. 

25) “I don’t know if this is your style, but I figured it was better than nothing,” You could have asked for a song request, not saying she’s bad for not doing it, but if she wanted to match Kelli’s taste, that would have helped. So long as she isn’t playing ‘Larger than Life’ or songs with similar titles and lyrics she’ll be fine.

She could have, but that would have been another conversation when shes already trying to dig herself out of another conversation. 

26.1) “She didn’t know why she was so nervous” I have a theory.

I can just about imagine. 

26.2) “all Talisa could think about was how much she wanted Kelli to see her as more than just Kayla’s friend” That’s it, that’s my theory.

Its a decent want to have. She would be thrilled for Kelli to consider her a friend independent of Kayla. But she also would never ask. 

27.1) “But how could she even begin to say that? How do you flirt with someone when they’re six inches tall?” I’d suggest asking Mal for pointers, but there’s no way Talisa would just approach Mal like that.

Theres a better chance of her approaching Kelli directly then her approaching mallory and both are about as likely as lottery ticket odds. 

27.2) “How do you navigate feelings like this when the person you like has been through something so traumatic?” Ask Chloe, but similar issues with asking Mal.

Mallory would be pretty good as she has been through a very similar situation. But man I could also see mallory getting frustrated by the fact Talisa wouldn’t
 just be straight about what she wanted to ask and being that she barely knows of talisa’s existence it may not end well. 

28) “Kelli looked surprised, her brows furrowing” Why does that surprise Kelli? I thought she’d know she was admired.

She never thought about Talisa admiring as Talisa was just Kayla’s friend and since she was important to Kayla Kelli looked out for her a bit. 

29) “I didn’t have everything figured out, I just made it look that way.” And that’s every popular kid’s secret.

THat really is the secret.