Eliza Jones was not impacted by the Condensing, least not directly, and definitely not as heavily as her smaller friends. But that doesn't prevent her from seeing the atmosphere around Westdale or knowing the hardships her friends face everyday. It's only getting worse, and her city is supposed to be one of the safest and most integrated.
Every person has history with the Condensing, and it's her goal to document the echoes of its danger and prejudice today.
Welcome to Major//Minor, Eliza's video essays capturing life in the city of Westdale. For better, or more often, for worse.
masterlist under the cut
WRITING⟢
official story
the ruler
ASKS AND YAPS
(ask me about my sillies n i'll love you 4eva)
james nelson and power imbalances
james again
minor key and places to be stored
borrower au?
minor key and food
ART
reference sheet
minor key trio crime
floor
long drives
the minor key trio as borrowers
clara and james sketch
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The day Eliza decided to cram out halloween costumes for all her friends in under a month.
James knew she kept a growing list of costume ideas as they popped in her head through out the year. And every year, on the first of the month, Eliza cornered all her friends in a lounge or dorm to assign looks.
This had been a long time coming since June, but Eliza liked the challenge of a deadline.
James didn’t know how she did it.
Between classes and football, his fall semesters already felt like a slow test of willpower.
To add the Major//Minors and everything the project entailed on top of this year?
Halloween was the last thing James was concerned about.
The lounge was silent as Eliza scrolled through her phone.
“I didn’t think of many full group ideas this year,” she murmured. “It’s mostly pairs or trios.”
The swiped through her notes, occasionally glancing up at the group before looking back down.
James watched her look up at Robin, frown, then delete a line.
“You’re really taking it seriously this year, huh, Liza.” Kai said.
“This is not just fun outfits for a party or two,” Eliza said. “You guys need to think more about the content.”
“Alternatively,” Cooper leaned forward. “You should think less of the content. Your perfectionism is slowly suffocating the room, Jones. Just throw something out there.”
“Fine,” Eliza looked up from her phone. “Clara, will you be Tinkerbell and Wendy with me?”
Clara stared at her.
“Um, no?”
“Please? That would be so cute,” Eliza begged. “And without Tink, I’d just look like a girl in a blue dress. People would think I’m Alice in Wonderland.”
She gasped, typing something into her phone.
“I can be Alice from Alice in Wonderland.”
“I mean,” Cooper motioned to Clara. “She’d be more of a Rosetta anyway.”
Clara slowly turned to him.
She glanced up at his blond hair, then back to his face.
“Are you...volunteering?”
Cooper raised his hands in defense, turning to Eliza with wide eyes. “No.”
“Why do you know the Pixie Hollow fairies off the top of your head?” Clara pressed.
“I have a little sister.”
“Do you watch the Pixie Hollow movies, Bell?” She gasped. “Bell! Tinkerbell! You have to do it.”
Eliza waved them off. “I think Cooper and Kai should be those tiny gay men from Night at the Museum, anyway.”
Robin choked on a laugh. “Jedediah and Octavius?!”
“Yes! And you’d be the night guard.”
James grinned. “That actually ain’t bad.”
“I will use the worst midwest accent the world has ever seen.” Cooper pointed at him. “I’ll put you to shame.”
“I am from Georgia, I don’t have a midwestern accent.”
“Same difference.”
Eliza gasped.
“What?” Kai asked.
She looked up from her notes with a grin that made James sit straighter.
“Eliza.”
“I had this idea for last year and totally forgot. And it’s even funnier now since we’ve been talking about it so much recently.”
“Oh no,” Kai said.
Eliza pointed to Clara, then to James.
“Secret World of Arrietty.”
“No.”
James closed his eyes. “This movie again?”
“It’s so perfect!” Eliza gushed.
Clara rolled her eyes. “Can I be Sho?”
Cooper snorted.
“You’re actually pretty funny sometimes, Grace.”
“Well, I’m not going to be Arrietty.”
“You’d make a great Arrietty,” Robin said.
“Would not.”
“You’ve got the personality,” Kai started. “I mean, you’re a lot more hostile. But it’s kinda perfect.”
“It’s not that perfect,” Clara crossed her arms. “I think you’re all getting caught up in the red hair.”
“Yes,” Cooper sighed, motioning up and down at James. “Because that is the perfect representation of a sick little boy with a heart condition.”
“I ain’t so sure I know what this movie is about anymore.”
“Borrowers, James!” Clara glared at him. “Jesus Christ, keep up!”
She turned back to Eliza.
“Liza, you know it is psychological warfare to make James do this without having seen the movie.”
“Oh,” Eliza tilted her head. “So you agree?”
“No.” Clara crossed her arms. “But I know James and how he thinks.”
She turned back to him.
“Say no.”
James glanced down at her, then back up at Eliza.
“How complicated is the costume?”
Clara made a frustrated little sound.
“Just a white shirt,” Eliza smiled.
James pressed his lips together.
With classes, the project, the activism, and football all on his plate- James couldn’t afford to do much more.
He looked back down at Clara.
She looked like, if she could wrap her hands around his neck, she’d have strangled him by now.
“It’s just a white shirt, baby.”
Cooper made a noise of utter delight behind his hand. “Oh my god, Nelson.”
“Is it not just a movie ‘bout tiny folk in the walls?”
Kai sighed. “On paper, yes.”
⟣
The off paper problem began to reveal itself two weeks later and five minutes into the film.
Not immediately.
Lord, that would have been easier.
The movie was cute, James could give everyone that.
The visuals were as beautiful as Eliza hyped them to be. The borrower furniture and tools were intriguing. He liked the main character almost immediately.
A small, determined, and adventurous borrower- maybe too confident in a world so large.
The movie played softly through Eliza’s apartment.
“But, if a bean saw you-”
“Beans don’t scare me.”
“The beans should scare you, that’s what worries me.”
James’ gaze dropped to Clara, next to him on the arm of the sofa.
She had intentionally sat away from him, muttering something about the consequences of his own actions. Her legs were pulled up, and she leaned forward to rest her chin against her knees. She looked smaller than usual, tucked into herself against the vast sofa.
Cooper and Kai had stolen the tiny furniture Eliza had. They were cuddled together somewhere in the shadows of the living room. Eliza was curled on the sofa next to James, and Robin sat with her back to the arm of it, directly under Clara.
Eliza leaned over to point to the young boy on screen. A small, black haired child. “That’s gonna be you.”
James blinked.
“Y’all think this is perfect?”
“Just wait, Nelson,” Cooper said from somewhere in the dark.
Robin shushed them.
By the time they made it to the first night in the film, their borrower challenge began to click. All the little references and imagery he just nodded along to finally made sense.
“Y’all wanted to do that?” James leaned forward, watching the father on screen scale furniture with rope and some sticky tape.
“Only Clara did,” Kai replied.
“Still do.”
The movie was growing on him.
It wasn’t something he’d reach for on his own, but the charm was undeniable. He understood now what Cooper meant when he assumed everyone had seen it post-Condensing.
The scale logistics, tiny safety, and improvisation didn’t feel as fictional anymore.
But it was Arrietty that his brain kept snagging on.
A resourceful and curious girl, too bold for her own good, and determined to make the world regret underestimating her.
She didn’t let a world so big reduce her more.
Then, Arrietty spoke to Sho for the first time.
And something in James’ chest tightened.
It wasn’t just the sheer bravery of her initiating the contact.
It was the boy in the white shirt himself.
He didn’t see Arrietty as a novelty. He saw her personhood. Immediately. The only thing he asked of her was to be friends. His kindness came without repayment.
Then the crow hit the window. And Sho hid her behind his back.
Oh.
So that’s why everyone lost it during the borrower challenge.
James huffed out a laugh.
From next to him, Eliza gave a pleased hum.
James glanced down at Clara.
She was totally lost in the movie. Mouth parted gently, eyes glued on the screen.
He looked back up to the tiny redhead on the screen. Arrietty, who was resourceful, curious, and determined to move through the world on her own terms.
Then down again to the tiny redhead next to him.
Clara, who resisted being handled, pitied, and reduced. Who was territorial about her dignity and bit back when read as fragile.
His breath caught.
Clara still didn’t look at him. “Pull yourself together, James,” she hissed. “I explicitly warned you.”
“You were not nearly clear enough.”
“What part of psychological warfare and ‘say no’ wasn’t clear enough?”
James motioned helplessly to the movie.
It wasn’t just Clara being similar to Arrietty. If it was, the film might have been easier.
It was Sho, who spent the whole time quietly overwhelmed by Arrietty. Not by her scale, but her personhood.
Sho, whose entire emotional ecosystem got destabilized by one tiny red haired girl.
Just a white shirt.
He pressed his lips together.
By the time the movie ended, James wasn’t looking at Clara. He couldn’t.
“Kai, are you crying?” Robin asked.
There was a sniffle.
“Why can’t they be friends forever?”
“If it helps,” Clara started, in a tone that told everyone the words out of her mouth would not help. “Realistically, Sho dies like, immediately after the movie ends.”
Kai took a shaky breath. Cooper groaned. James shut his eyes.
“I’m just saying!” Clara motioned to the credits on the screen. “Heart problems.”
⟣
By the time Halloween rolled around, James had come to terms with the emotional cost of dressing up as Sho.
They were getting ready for a party in Eliza’s apartment, and already running late.
Eliza, the evil woman she was, had passed him the small stack of clothes with a smile. “Yours was the quickest to pull together. Didn’t have to alter much.”
He changed, then stared into the mirror, trying to reduce his reflection back to just a while shirt.
The collared long sleeve shirt and dark pants were definitely the least complicated creation of the night.
On the table behind him, Cooper and Kai were having the time of their lives looking at the details in their costumes.
“Eliza, this is actually insane,” Kai said, holding up the little chest plate she had made.
She smiled. “I have a friend just outside of the city who pays for a studio space in this metal workshop. The credit goes to her and a hammer for that one.”
Cooper flicked the brim of his little cowboy hat. “Well now, don’t discredit yourself too much, partner.”
James closed his eyes at the accent.
“Wonder when the other two will ride into town?” Cooper continued, motioning to the room Robin and Cara were getting changed.
“We’ll come out as soon as you stop talking like that,” Robin’s voice came from through the door.
“Easy there, cowboy,” Cooper called back.
Kai elbowed him as the door swung open. “At least wait until we get to the party to embarrass yourself.”
Cooper pressed a hand over his heart. “My own boyfriend.”
“Your enemy, for tonight.” Kai winked.
“That’s vile,” Clara groaned. “As soon as I come in, really?”
Robin was dressed as Larry from Night at the Museum, matching Kai and Cooper. Eliza had even added a hand-painted patch to her jacket- ’THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY’ in neat little letters. In her hand, sat Clara.
Lord.
James had, intellectually, known what Clara would look like.
He’d watched the movie. He’d seen Eliza sketch out dress patterns and put Clara in little mockups. He had sat through weeks of everybody in his life acting like this was the funniest possible use of his time and dignity.
None of that prepared him for the actual sight of Clara Grace standing in Robin’s palm dressed like that.
The red dress, hand-stitched to fit Clara’s tiny form.
The little boots Eliza spent hours flawlessly replicating.
The stupidly perfect clip in her hair, painted to be the right color.
The bag over her shoulder.
The little belt around her waist, shifting as she put her hands on her hips.
It wasn’t just that she looked good. Clara always looked good. She prided herself on it.
The costume had taken a connection James internalized quietly and made it a visual for every one else to point at.
A small, red-haired girl dressed like a borrower. The borrower who embraced every challenge the bigger world threw at her with overconfidence and a grin.
And James was dressed as the boy who befriended that proud, stubborn, tiny girl, and was never the same again.
He was abruptly aware that the room had gone a little too quiet around him.
Not fully. Cooper was still grinning like an asshole. Eliza looked delighted with herself. Kai was making the face he always made when he knew emotional demise was about to become entertainment.
But the silence was there.
Waiting.
Clara looked up at him from Robin’s hand and immediately narrowed her eyes.
“No,” she said.
James blinked. “What?”
“That face.”
“What face?”
“The face where my night is about to get ruined by your inability to be normal for ten seconds.”
Eliza clapped once, delighted. “This is the reaction I was hoping for.”
Clara did not look away from James.
“Can you at least try?”
“Try what?”
“To be normal.” She glared. “For ten seconds.”
James, unfortunately, could not.
Lord, he had been trying.
But Clara dressed like that had done something mean to his head. The scale logic of the whole thing had gone from amusing to deeply, viscerally familiar.
He cleared his throat.
“You look real good.”
Cooper bent over with a laugh, leaning on Kai for support. Robin bit back a grin. Eliza made a delighted little noise.
Clara scoffed.
“That was a disgusting amount of sincerity to direct at somebody dressed as a borrower.”
“It’s Halloween! People are meant to look good.”
“It was your tone,” Cooper said, straightening up. “You’d think you just saw your prom date walk down the stairs, not your best friend in a dress made of fabric scraps.”
James looked at him. “I did not ask for a committee.”
“You got one anyway,” Kai said.
Eliza pressed both hands to her chest. “This is my greatest achievement yet.”
Clara groaned, covering her face with both hands. “I hate every single one of you.”
“Not me,” Eliza said. “You look adorable.”
“Especially you, Eliza Jones,” she looked up. “I don’t want to be adorable. Where is Arrietty’s sword?”
“I decided not to give you a weapon before we go out drinking.”
Clara opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Made a infuriated little noise.
James laughed then, low and involuntary.
Clara pointed at him from Robin’s hand. “You do not get to laugh.”
“Why not?”
“You are part of the problem.”
“He is the problem,” Cooper said.
Robin sighed, holding out her hand. “Can somebody take her?”
James looked up automatically.
“See? This is what I’m talking about!” Cooper pointed at him. “This is such a super chill and casual response to your tiny redhead dressing up as the borrower girl you’ve been weird about for two weeks.”
“I’ve not been weird about Arrietty,” James started.
Nobody looked like they believed him.
It was Clara as Arrietty that got him, not the character herself. But that sounded worse, even on his tongue. It was their costumes together. The fact that two fictional characters could be abstracted down to their core and reflect so perfectly back at them.
That absolutely wouldn’t help his argument.
But the silence wasn’t either.
“You are so embarrassing,” Clara informed James.
He held out his hand anyway.
Clara stepped onto his palm, her little boots a featherlight pressure against his skin. His fingers curved instinctively, bracing around the small woman in his hand.
She steadied herself and looked up.
“You need to pull yourself together before the party.”
James smiled helplessly. “I’ll do my best.”
“That’s not promising,” Kai said.
“I’m serious, James.” Clara crossed her arms.
“Baby, I know.”
Eliza grabbed her phone. “Wait, everyone come here. I need get pictures before we leave.”
“No,” Clara said.
“Yes,” Eliza said, already moving furniture to get the best angle. “Especially yes. Robin, come stand by James. Cooper, tilt your hat less like a teenage boy forced into theater.”
“It’s called commitment,” Cooper said.
“It’s giving me a headache.”
James lifted Clara to his shoulder, hand hovering as she found her balance, chin tilted so he could still see her.
“What?” she asked.
James’s thumb shifted once lightly against her side. Not moving her. Just touching.
“Nothin’.”
“That’s not true.”
“No,” he admitted softly.
Clara studied him for one more second, before rolling her eyes and pushing his hand away. The crisis he was currently having would no longer be indulged by her.
Eliza waved everybody into place. “Okay, ready. Smile like you all love me.”
“No,” Cooper said.
“Never,” Clara said.
⟣
The party itself, functioned like every party James had attended in Westdale. Someone’s little apartment, a friend of Eliza’s if he remembered correctly. Crowded, but not in the stereotypical “half the school showed up” way. A few dozen people James did not know well. Too many bodies for the small space. Too much alcohol going around for him to relax.
Fortunately, this Halloween gave him an air tight excuse against the hovering allegations.
“It’s just the costume, baby,” He said, shifting his shoulder, and the tiny woman on it, when somebody brushed passed to close to him.
“Can you go back to panicking about this?” Clara asked. “It was significantly more fun when you weren’t smug.”
“Ain’t smug,” he said. “Just mindful of the environment.”
“James.”
He smiled. “Maybe a little smug.”
Attending parties with Clara, Cooper, and Kai, was a guaranteed way to make sure James didn’t enjoy himself. There were too many elements, too many people not paying attention. Too many obstacles and too much distance between him and his friends to cross a room quickly if they needed him.
Parties always got him in trouble with Clara. She’d get annoyed at him for babysitting her, insult him all night, then never actually move away. That would not stop her from spending the whole time making it incredibly clear this was his fault and he was the weird one.
Tonight, however, Clara on his shoulder was literally part of the costume.
So, yeah. Maybe he was a little smug.
Robin appeared next to him, motioning to the counter where a few condensed people had grouped. “Cooper wants Clara for a round of shots.”
“Fuck yeah,” Clara gasped.
She was leaning forward before James’ hand had risen fully.
“Clara.” He inhaled as gravity closed the distance between them.
“Sorry,” She grinned, already reaching for the counter. “Don’t blame a girl for wanting to have fun.”
James set her down with a sigh, watching her take a spot next to Cooper and Kai.
He stepped back. Paused. Slipped his hands into his pockets. Took them out again. Then he crossed the room, but kept the counter in sight. Let Eliza drukenly show him the photos she took earlier, and pretended not to glance over to Clara every few minutes. Tried not to think about the increase in “accidents” through out the city.
“James, did you even dress up?” A voice asked.
Oliver emerged from the small crowd, finding a spot between him and Eliza. He was dressed as a vampire, with a red cape and fake fangs that gave him a lisp.
“And I thought Lucas was bad,” he continued. “Dude just stole my lab coat and goggles for class. He’s calling himself a mad scientist.”
“Oh, James is dressed up,” Eliza giggled. “Look, look,”
She shoved her phone forward, letting Oliver swipe through some of the pictures.
“Oh,” Oliver grinned. “Oh, that’s too good.”
“Thank you, I worked very hard,” Eliza beamed.
“No, genuinely,” Oliver pointed to one photo of Kai, Cooper, and Clara all together. “This is like, incredible work.”
Eliza took her phone back with a sheepish smile. “It was nothing.”
James shook his head. Eliza did not work tirelessly all month for nothing.
He turned back to Oliver.
“You really can’t tell I’m dressed up?”
“I mean, you just kinda look like a dude in a white shirt.”
James groaned.
“I mean, it is just a white shirt,” Eliza nudged him.
“Lord, there are few words I regret sayin’ more.”
Oliver glanced between them with a confused smile. “I take it they finally sat you down to watch the movie?”
⟣
By the time Clara was back in his hands, she was drunk and meaner than usual.
The two were not necessarily connected.
“I swear to god I was this close to shoving Cooper off that fucking table.” She said, pressing two fingers together. “I was literally going to, but Kai had to ruin it.”
James set her down on the coffee table, fingers waiting for her to find her balance before retreating. “You’ll get ‘em next time.”
The living room was just as crowded as the kitchen, but there was less movement. Most people were sitting and talking in their own conversations.
It was quieter.
He sat on the sofa in front of Clara, elbows braced on his knees. She continued her recount of the hour they spent apart, pacing a little as she went.
One kid had an ugly costume, someone thought Cooper was just some cowboy, and Kai had cut the both of them off from drinks, which was controlling and rude.
Her hands moved rapidly as she spoke. She wobbled a bit every time she stepped, and her little Arrietty dress flared out at each pivot.
“And don’t think I didn’t notice you hovering like a freak,” she said, pointing at him.
“I thought I did pretty well this time.”
“At not hovering? Or hiding it. Because you failed to do either, and looked stupid, too.”
James laughed, caught and a little helpless.
Clara crossed her arms.
“You’re so annoying.”
James could only nod. No point in denying it. No point in saying sorry when he wasn’t.
Next to him, a girl sat down. He didn’t recognize her. She was dressed as a cat, talking to some friends on the other side of the couch.
Clara ran out of ranting momentum with a huff. She lowered herself to the table, sitting with her legs tucked under her, red dress pooling. “I want another shot.”
“No, baby,” James said. “I trust Kai’s judgment. Maybe water.”
“Oh don’t even.”
“Water, then another shot.”
“You don’t get to bargain my own alcohol intake with me.”
“I do when I’m the one walkin’ you home. Don’t wanna have to clean up vomit.”
Clara rolled her eyes.
The girl next to him leaned forward to set down her cup.
It landed right next to Clara.
“Oh, Jesus Christ,” she jerked backwards.
The girl didn’t even glance down.
James did.
The cup was close enough for its condensation to pool at Clara’s feet. One bead dripped down the side, soaking into her little boot.
James’ thumb and forefinger caught the rim of the cup, easing it back across the table.
The girl turned the second a stranger touched her drink.
“Hey,” he kept his voice easy, retreating his hand the second the cup was distanced from Clara. “Let’s not set drinks on top of people.”
The girl blinked at him, then down at Clara. Her face flushed with realization. “Oh, shit, sorry. I didn’t see her.”
James’ mouth tipped into something attempting politeness. “Yeah,” he said. “That’s usually the issue.”
The girl picked up her cup, glancing at Clara one last time before standing. “Sorry.”
Then she was gone.
James’s brought his hand down beside her. Not grabbing, not asking, just offering.
Clara rolled her eyes, but climbed on.
He knew it was more for his comfort than hers.
“At least she apologized to me too,” she said. “That doesn’t normally happen.”
James hummed, eyes following the space the girl disappeared to, before moving to the party around them.
“James.”
“What?”
“Chill out,” Clara said. “Seriously.”
He lifted her to his shoulder.
“I’m not going to die by red solo cup.”
“Is your foot cold?”
“No.”
“Your boot’s wet.”
“It’s fine.”
He turned to look at her.
She was already glaring, hands on her hips, unimpressed. “I know you don’t like parties. I know you’re stressed over the tensions. But if you spend the rest of the night monitoring me I will bite you.”
He let out a soft laugh despite himself. “Can you blame me?”
“Yes. Develop a personality.”
⟣
Water and a shot later, (two shots, but Clara didn’t think he saw the second one), and the party was slowly thinning out. James had shifted Clara to his hands after gravity got one too many drunken tilts out of her.
Now, she leaned back, slouching against the base of his curled fingers.
James watched her settle.
“Ready to head on out, baby?”
Clara’s eyes, bright and unguarded from the alcohol, met his. “No.”
Her head stayed tilted against him.
“Are you?”
James adjusted his hand and nodded. “Yeah, I’d say I am.”
To be fair, he had been ready to leave before they arrived.
By the time the last of their goodbyes were given, his borrowed party energy had fizzled.
The door shut behind them, muffling the music and laughter of those still going.
James exhaled.
The walk back to his dorm wasn’t quiet.
Clara spent the first ten minutes insisting she was sober enough to ride on his shoulder, and that the wind never jostled the pure of heart.
She glared at his hands, both palms cupped on either side of her, fingers curving over just enough to cover without enclosing.
“This is kidnapping.”
“It’s transportation and warmth.”
“Weird way to say controlling.”
James’ let out a low, warm laugh. “You’re drunk.”
“That’s unrelated.”
He caved, flattening his hands a little. As soon as the night’s air reached her, a shiver shuddered through Clara’s body.
She stubbornly leaned into the open air anyway.
The city around them was soft. The streetlights carved golden pockets into the air, and music leaked out of a bar as they passed.
For the first time in a few weeks, the tired ache behind James’ eyes didn’t feel like overworked exhaustion. It felt like his body finally finding the safety to relax.
Clara settled in the center of his two hands, eyes half lidded as they watched the world pass.
She wasn’t sloppy drunk. Not gone enough to lose motor skills and turn careless.
Just looser.
Her bite came out slow and sleepy. No less mean, just less enthused, and less armored.
For Clara Grace, the softer edges were dangerous in their own way.
A soft gasp broke through the night.
James glanced down, hands adjusting as Clara leaned forward, eyes fixated on the street ahead.
He followed her line of sight.
Between the line of parked cars, a cat slipped into the light.
It was small, made even smaller by the distance. Gone as quick as it appeared, continuing on without giving them a glance.
But Clara had gone still in his hands.
She was staring after it with an expression he couldn’t place. It wasn’t fear, not with so much space between her and the cat. Not with his hands around her.
It was something else.
He shifted her higher on his chest.
“You alright?”
Clara blinked once, then tore her eyes away from the place where the cat disappeared.
When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet.
“I was gonna get a cat.”
James paused.
“A cat?” He repeated.
“Mhm.”
Her eyes fell back to the shadow where she last saw it.
James was walking slower now.
“When?” He asked gently.
“When I moved out.”
He forced himself not to react. Breath even, hands relaxed. Brain focused on anything but the fact that Clara never talked about her life before the Condensing. Not like this. Not while softened by alcohol and memories.
He felt, suddenly, a little invasive.
Clara didn’t seem to notice.
Little Arrietty boots braced against his skin as she tucked herself closer.
“My parents never let me have one,” She said with a face. “Which was like, top three heartbreaks of my childhood, honestly.”
She pressed her lips together.
“Guess I took care of enough little creatures growing up… But siblings aren’t a cat. So I had one picked out.”
James’ stomach did a horrible little flip.
“Picked out how?”
Her breath against his finger was a warm prick when she laughed. It was short, annoyed.
“Not literally. I’m not crazy.”
“Maybe not for that.”
She ignored him.
“She was gonna be orange.” Her voice was so soft James almost missed it. “A girl. They’re rare.”
“You don’t say.”
“She was gonna be special,” Clara said, finally tilting her head back to look at him. Her entire body, lax from alcohol and nostalgia, tipped with her. Her back hit his palm, and she stayed there. “Orange girls are harder to find. That was important.”
“To who?”
“To me, James. Keep up.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She ignored him again. “I was gonna name her Clementine.”
“That so?”
Clara nodded once, eyes breaking away from his face to find the sky above them.
“She’d love me the most.”
“Naturally.”
“And she’d hiss at men.”
James laughed under his breath, making Clara’s gaze snap back to him with a glare.
“She’d have good instinct.” She insisted.
“Sounds like she’d like me just fine.”
Her hand smacked his palm. “No, she would not have.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re a man. Are you even listening?”
He laughed again, quieter this time, letting Clara shift deeper into the cradle of him.
“I had a whole apartment for us.”
The sentence hit his chest with a physical ache.
It wasn’t just the cat.
Now, it was an entire life.
“Did you?” James asked.
“Mhm. In some busy city. Big windows,” she continued. “One with a nice view, so she could sit there and watch the world while I was gone. Nice curtains, because she wouldn’t scratch them. One of those ugly cat towers that I’d buy and pretend it didn’t ruin my aesthetic.”
James swallowed.
This was a future Clara built.
A soft little corner of the world she wanted to carve out one day.
A life before the Condensing changed everything.
He asked next question as gently as he could.
“You think about her a lot?”
The silence stretched.
For a moment, James assumed she would ignore the question entirely.
Then, “Not a lot.”
A deep breath.
“Just sometimes.”
Her eyes found his again. “It’s stupid.”
“No, it ain’t.”
“She wasn’t even real.”
“She was still yours.”
She turned her face into his palm and said nothing for a few seconds.
When she spoke again, the words were so quiet he had to dip his head to hear.
“I’ll never be able to own a cat now.”
James felt something awful catch in his throat.
For a moment, the confession just hung in the air.
He waited for her to elaborate, to take it back, to change the topic.
She let out a shaky breath.
“It’s so stupid.” She said again, quieter this time.
“No. It ain’t.” James repeated himself too, resolute against the defeat leaking into her tone.
“My whole life changed, and the thing I grieve the most is an imaginary cat.” Her voice faltered. “People died.”
James pressed his lips together.
“I know.”
“I know you know.” She crossed her arms. “Obviously, you know.”
He looked away.
He felt her hand unclench against his palm, tiny fingers spreading wide against his skin.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I just-”
There was a warm, shaky exhale at the base of his thumb.
“I’ve never told anyone about her before. Even before the Condensing.”
James swallowed.
“You’re not allowed to make this a thing tomorrow.” She said.
“I won’t.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
She studied him with drunken suspicion.
Then, after a beat, “She would’ve been mean to Oliver.”
James chuckled.
“Because he’s a man?”
“No, because he’s Oliver.”
By the time they reached campus, Clara had gone quiet. She shifted back into the warm curve of his hand, letting the alcohol fade into sleep.
James paused outside his dorm, one hand on the doorknob, eyes glancing down to Clara in the other.
Her Arrietty bag was slipping off her shoulder. Red hair fanned across his palm. One boot slouched lower than the other.
So small.
“Hey.”
She blinked up at him. “What.”
He tipped his head to the cat sticker half peeling from her phone case.
“That why you still always pick cats?”
Clara glanced down at her phone, finger drifting over the decal.
He watched her think of every time she chose cat themed items, declaring them absolved from the real cat’s crimes.
“Maybe.”
He nodded once, then carried her inside.
my life fucking changed a few weeks ago when i watched the secret world of arrietty and made the connection between arrietty/sho and clara/james. also, i could write a 10 page essay about clementine and her role in claras life and how it connects to james
wc: 5,483
next (coming soon!)
taglist: @omyrahwrites @solarmooon
i think if a giant were to lock tiny me in a hamster cage, for whatever reason, i would be offended and indignant about it. like obviously. but also obviously, once they’re gone, you bet i’m gonna try out the hamster wheel. like just once. i know this whole thing is beneath me as a proper borrower, and i should not engage with any hamster items around me. but. c’mon. just one lap won’t hurt. like just to try it.
Since Clara is a redhead and also happens to be a pretty feisty one, is it something you think people comment on or that she recognizes?? Not sure if you’ve touched on it yet or not (I’m not entirely caught up with tm//ma) or if you don’t think there’s any significance or connection to the stereotype? xx Mimi
so that was actually unintentional lol, bc i didn’t consciously think about the feisty redhead trope until this ask,,,, but i definitely did some subconscious character building there
and in fact, further down the line in the story,,, being the loud and notable tiny absolutely plays a role in clara’s story- specifically when thinking of the archive notoriety.
for the most part yes, it's definitely something people comment on. but if it’s their fanbase making the connections, it’s endearing.
one thing abt me is that i loveeee g/t logistics. like yes please explain to me how you brush your teeth and keep yourself clean and where you get your clothes and what and how much you eat and who cuts your hair and exactly what it takes for you to exist in a world thats the wrong size for you. please
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yay! my first ever tm//ma story that im posting disconnected from the main plot! everything i write outside of the chapters is still canon and set in the same world, i just couldn't include in in the main story for whatever reason. these posts will often be shorter lil scenes i had to cut along the way
masterlist
The Condensed library was not a closed off room.
It was a platform tucked into the corner of one of the dual sized study spaces. Westdale College’s official library was the institutions pride and joy. It was a full size building that sat proudly across campus. Big stain glass windows, extensive paper archives, and the best ac system Westdale had.
The Condensed library was the administration’s way of crossing off a box.
There were no tiny books. Only a few tables, some computers for research, and one librarian to help navigate the online catalogue.
And even she was out of office Monday through Wednesday.
For the most part it was just a quiet place to study.
Which is what Clara had been trying to do.
Bringing Kai and Cooper was her first mistake.
Her second, was glancing towards the edge of the platform.
Laying on the ground, just in front of the railing, was a ruler.
A normal sized one.
12 inches at one end, 30 centimeters at the other.
Wooden.
Absolutely not where it belongs.
“Why is it even here,” She muttered.
Kai nudged it with his foot, but it hardly shifted.
“Do we think it was accidentally dropped here? Or did somebody put it on the platform to make fun of us?”
They stared at it.
“This is definitely mockery,” Clara said. “We should throw it off the ledge.”
“We should use it first,” Kai said.
Clara raised an eyebrow. “For what?”
Before he could answer, Cooper was already moving. He laid next to it, feet at the base of the inch side. “Kai, how tall am I?”
Clara shut her laptop. “Bell, you are literally letting yourself become a punchline.”
“I’m reclaiming it.”
Kai squatted down, pressing Cooper’s hair flat for a more accurate measurement.
“Three inches and nine-tenths.”
“Surprising no one,” Clara rolled her eyes.
“Okay, Grace,” Cooper pushed himself up. “Your turn.”
“No, you’re just going to call me short.”
“Fine, Kai, go,”
Kai sighed, taking Cooper’s place on the ground.
“I’m gonna laugh when you’ve shrunk,” Clara said.
“That’s not funny.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time it happened.”
Clara watched from her chair as Cooper measured Kai. The ruler was unfairly longer than them.
A simple measuring device they could once hold in their hands now lay a heavy reminder of what the Condensing took.
“Three point six,” Cooper confirmed. “You have not shrunk again.”
“Thank god.”
He helped Kai up before turning back to Clara. “Grace.”
She stared at them. She knew she should open her laptop again. This happened every time she asked them to go study somewhere.
Really, she just needed to stop inviting them.
“I’m doing homework.” She tried weakly.
Kai held out his hand. “It’ll be funny.”
“To who?”
Cooper replied like it was obvious. “Me.”
Kai moved his hand closer. “It’s for science.”
“You two hate science.”
With his full body weight, Cooper crouched to push the ruler towards her. “This isn’t even science. It’s math.”
“That just feels like semantics.”
“Grace,” Cooper whined. “You can’t be the only one who doesn’t do it.”
She hesitated.
She knew this was for the punchline. Oh ha ha, look at the three inch girl. But, she also knew if she didn’t let herself get measured, Cooper would say some shit like she’s secretly two inches tall and lying.
She pushed away from the table with a dramatic huff. The legs of the chair scraped against the ground and echoed through their little library section.
“Fine,” she said. “Make fun of my height. Whatever.”
Clara crossed her arms as she laid down. The ruler was cool against the side of her leg.
Cooper immediately leaned in, squinting with theatrical sincerity.
His hand pressed flat to her head, fingers aligning with the marks on the ruler.
Silence spread through their little corner of the room.
Kai’s grin faltered the tiniest bit.
Clara looked up at them. “What.”
Kai’s eyes flicked to Cooper.
Cooper’s mouth twitched. “Oh.”
“What do you mean oh.”
Kai crouched to tug at her ankles. “Okay. Feet at zero.”
She scoffed. “I know how rulers work, they are.”
And they were.
He pressed his lips together.
“This is a fucked up prank, I’ll have you know,” Clara said.
“Move over to the centimeter side.”
“Kick a three inch girl while she’s down, why don’t you.”
Something shifted in Kai’s face. She couldn’t read it, but it was enough to make her move to the opposite end of the ruler.
Immediately, Kai and Cooper crowded over her like idiots.
Kai leaned so close she could feel his breath against her hairline.
Cooper’s shoulder was pressed to Kai’s as he squinted, then laughed- sharp and entirely at Clara’s expense. “Oh my god.”
She glared at him.
“What.”
“You’re seven and a half centimeters tall.”
“So?”
“So…that’s not three inches.”
“Let me guess, three point one?”
Kai did some silent math on his fingers.
“Two point nine five.”
Clara sat up, almost smacking her head against theirs. “You are so fucking with me.”
Cooper made a noise caught between delight and horror. “You’ve been rounding up this whole time!”
“You’re such bad liars.”
“We wouldn’t lie about this.”
“You absolutely would. Did you coordinate this?”
“Honored you think we’re smart enough to pull it off.”
She glared at Cooper.
“The ruler is wrong.”
“The ruler is not wrong.”
“It is and you probably put it there yourselves.”
“Why would we-?” Cooper cut himself off with a laugh.
She turned to Kai, who would surely end the bit quicker. “Bennett.”
He held his hands up in defense.
“I’m not fucking with you,” he motioned to the ruler. “It’s literally right there.”
Cooper was still half laughing, half wheezing when Clara whirled on him.
“Bell.”
He turned his face away, shoulders shaking as one hand covered his mouth.
“This is funny to you?”
“It’s-” He tried to speak, but just shook his head as he swallowed a laugh. “It’s just-”
Clara shoved the ruler.
It didn’t budge.
“I literally do not believe you guys. I have been three inches tall for years. It’s the height the government measured me at! That’s official shit. It’s stated it on forms. I have filled it out on paperwork. I have-”
Kai’s voice was careful, almost apologetic, as it interrupted her. “You have been rounding.”
She glared at him.
“No.”
Cooper finally found his voice. “You absolutely have.”
“I have not!”
Kai’s eyes flicked to the ruler again. “Two point nine five isn’t even-”
“Stop saying it out loud.”
“No, I just mean, the Condensed range is three to four. So,” Kai trailed off.
“See?” Clara stood fully now, pointing a finger at the wooden lie. “That ruler is faulty.”
“And yet Kai and I were the correct heights?” Cooper asked.
Clara opened her mouth, then shut it.
She blinked at the ruler.
Then, slowly, she turned to Kai and Cooper.
“Measure me again.”
“Clara-” Kai said softly.
“Do it again,” she insisted. “And right this time.”
She laid back, triple checking her feet sat at zero inches. She stretched every limb flat and as long as they could go.
This time, there was less humor in Cooper’s expression.
Kai looked almost sorry.
“These reactions are so much worse. Don’t tell me it’s even smaller.” Clara said, her stomach twisting.
“No,” Cooper leaned back on his heels. “Still two point nine five.”
“I mean,” Kai made a helpless little motion. “Ninety five is so close to the nearest whole number that it doesn’t even matter. Visually you’re three inches.”
“Do not ruin my life and then try to make it better.” She glared.
Kai pressed his lips together and nodded.
She sat up, pushing the ruler away again. It shifted less than a centimeter.
“You two are never speaking about this.”
Cooper opened his mouth, but before he could say something stupid, Kai elbowed him. “We wont.”
“Not even when it would objectively be the funniest bit.”
“Not a word.”
“Not even a face,” she pushed.
Kai nodded. “We promise.”
“Swear on your relationship,” Clara said, tilting her chin up.
Cooper made a strangled sound. “Now that’s-”
“Swear.”
“Okay,” He held his hands up. “I swear.”
Kai’s eyes kept drifting to the ruler. “I swear.”
She waited for a crack in their composure.
When it didn’t come, she stood, dusting off her hands.
“Now can we throw it off the ledge?”
canonically she's 2.95 inches. but only three people know that. and she'd kill kai or cooper if they told anyone. and i mean,,,,it's basically three... visually it doesn't make a difference but you know this haunts clara forever
PS!!! i will always take a writing request if theres any scene ideas people have :)))
wc: 1,405
so despite having a few chapters loaded into queue, i still have to go back and re-edit them before i post every week. unfortunately bc life is life, i haven’t had a chance to sit down and edit the next chapter,, so idk if it’ll come out this week or next
good news! i have a lil standalone 1.3k blurb coming out on friday so there will at least be SMTH
also, here’s the first 800 words of chapter 10 as a lil sneak peak
The time of year was officially upon them.
October first.
The day Eliza decided to cram out halloween costumes for all her friends in under a month.
James knew she kept a growing list of costume ideas as they popped in her head through out the year. And every year, on the first of the month, Eliza cornered all her friends in a lounge or dorm to assign looks.
This had been a long time coming since June, but Eliza liked the challenge of a deadline.
James didn’t know how she did it.
Between classes and football, his fall semesters already felt like a slow test of willpower.
To add the Major//Minors and everything the project entailed on top of this year?
Halloween was the last thing James was concerned about.
The lounge was silent as Eliza scrolled through her phone.
“I didn’t think of many full group ideas this year,” she murmured. “It’s mostly pairs or trios.”
The swiped through her notes, occasionally glancing up at the group before looking back down.
James watched her look up at Robin, frown, then delete a line.
“You’re really taking it seriously this year, huh, Liza.” Kai said.
“This is not just fun outfits for a party or two,” Eliza said. “You guys need to think more about the content.”
“Alternatively,” Cooper leaned forward. “You should think less of the content. Your perfectionism is slowly suffocating the room, Jones. Just throw something out there.”
“Fine,” Eliza looked up from her phone. “Clara, will you be Tinkerbell and Wendy with me?”
Clara stared at her.
“Um, no?”
“Please? That would be so cute,” Eliza begged. “And without Tink, I’d just look like a girl in a blue dress. People would think I’m Alice in Wonderland.”
She gasped, typing something into her phone.
“I can be Alice from Alice in Wonderland.”
“I mean,” Cooper motioned to Clara. “She’d be more of a Rosetta anyway.”
Clara slowly turned to him.
She glanced up at his blond hair, then back to his face.
“Are you...volunteering?”
Cooper raised his hands in defense, turning to Eliza with wide eyes. “No.”
“Why do you know the Pixie Hollow fairies off the top of your head?” Clara pressed.
“I have a little sister.”
“Do you watch the Pixie Hollow movies, Bell?” She gasped. “Bell! Tinkerbell! You have to do it.”
Eliza waved them off. “I think Cooper and Kai should be those tiny gay men from Night at the Museum, anyway.”
Robin choked on a laugh. “Jedediah and Octavius?!”
“Yes! And you’d be the night guard.”
James grinned. “That actually ain’t bad.”
“I will use the worst midwest accent the world has ever seen.” Cooper pointed at him. “I’ll put you to shame.”
“I am from Georgia, I don’t have a midwestern accent.”
“Same difference.”
Eliza gasped.
“What?” Kai asked.
She looked up from her notes with a grin that made James sit straighter.
“Eliza.”
“I had this idea for last year and totally forgot. And it’s even funnier now since we’ve been talking about it so much recently.”
“Oh no,” Kai said.
Eliza pointed to Clara, then to James.
“Secret World of Arrietty.”
“No.”
James closed his eyes. “This movie again?”
“It’s so perfect!” Eliza gushed.
Clara rolled her eyes. “Can I be Sho?”
Cooper snorted.
“You’re actually pretty funny sometimes, Grace.”
“Well, I’m not going to be Arrietty.”
“You’d make a great Arrietty,” Robin said.
“Would not.”
“You’ve got the personality,” Kai started. “I mean, you’re a lot more hostile. But it’s kinda perfect.”
“It’s not that perfect,” Clara crossed her arms. “I think you’re all getting caught up in the red hair.”
“Yes,” Cooper sighed, motioning up and down at James. “Because that is the perfect representation of a sick little boy with a heart condition.”
“I ain’t so sure I know what this movie is about anymore.”
“Borrowers, James!” Clara glared at him. “Jesus Christ, keep up!”
She turned back to Eliza.
“Liza, you know it is psychological warfare to make James do this without having seen the movie.”
“Oh,” Eliza tilted her head. “So you agree?”
“No.” Clara crossed her arms. “But I know James and how he thinks.”
She turned back to him.
“Say no.”
James glanced down at her, then back up at Eliza.
“How complicated is the costume?”
Clara made a frustrated little sound.
“Just a white shirt,” Eliza smiled.
James pressed his lips together.
With classes, the project, the activism, and football all on his plate- James couldn’t afford to do much more.
He looked back down at Clara.
She looked like, if she could wrap her hands around his neck, she’d have strangled him by now.
“It’s just a white shirt, baby.”
Cooper made a noise of utter delight behind his hand. “Oh my god, Nelson.”
“Is it not just a movie ‘bout tiny folk in the walls?”
Are there any foods the tiny trio still loves (or is stubborn enough to try to eat anyways) despite it being ‘big people food’?
absolutely.
first i wanna yap about some worldbuilding in tm//ma universe that i haven't been able to focus on because i don't want to overcomplicate the story. so let's talk about diets for the condensed.
there's a heavy reliance on supplements to fill dietary gaps. protein products, daily vitamins, synthetic substitutions, etc.
processed foods are easy to come by. they were created to scale pretty early on. specifically baked goods. so much fuckin bread.
produce IS available, it's just never fresh. you can't go to the grocery store and pick up a few apples. everything has already been cut to scale, processed so it doesn’t go bad, and packaged.
so i think any time the minor key trio can get their hands on something fresh? they're ALL OVER IT.
yes. cooper thinks its funny as fuck to steal a french fry the size of him. but hand him a little piece of a recently peeled orange?? infinity better.
juicy fruit is SO messy, but the three of them will never turn it down. kai's personal fav would be a single drupelet from a raspberry or blackberry. clara used to love them, until she stained the entire front of her shirt with raspberry juice and now will not touch them.
even fresh baked goods are different for the condensed. it's hard to come by treats. everything made for them is for survival, not indulgence. so the minor key trio is thrilled when they can get their hands on some cake or a fluffy pastry.
another little part of canon is that the tiny side of westdale campus has different meals in the dining hall then the regular one. the condensed students get lots of soups/stews, because it's the easiest to make in bulk and to scale. don't get me wrong, the food is good, it's just so repetitive. so you know the trio is absolutely getting their hands on a bite of their friend's food whenever they can.
clara is absolutely the kind to try and steal food right out from someone’s nose
james lets her
that’s the thing. the tiny trio absolutely still gets access to “regular” food, bc ofc their friends share.
i think eliza would go out of her way to conveniently have food on hand that the trio likes, even if it might not be her fav
for cooper, the funnier is looks visually, the more likely he is to try to get his hands on it. kai is a sucker for a lil treat and absolutely had a sweet tooth. clara just wants a little of whatever her friends are having.
bc out of EVERY SINGLE character in tm//ma, he is the most giant coded.
honestly even more than james.
james is controlled strength. he is restraint. he's deeply aware of his body as a weapon and spends most of his time refusing to become one
cooper is the opposite.
cooper is protective. he will defend his people without hesitation. he is not scared of a physical interaction. honestly, he'll throw the first punch. cooper will put himself between his people and danger even if it's stupid.
and condensed? it is so so so often stupid.
bc what's he gonna do against a full sized person? he can't stop a giant hand. he can't fight a malicious person. but you know he's putting kai and clara behind him anyway.
he's always been self sacrificial. but at 3.9 inches, the danger that comes with it becomes life or death tbh.
cooper bell would give anything to be full sized. not for himself. not for some personal reason like autonomy or access. and not for power in some weird selfish way either.
he wants to be full sized to control the danger.
to have his body actually mean something when it's between the threat and his people.
no wonder he’s so mean. no wonder he watches everything. no wonder when he’s scared it comes out as sarcasm. if he actually sat with the helplessness, it would eat him alive.
also he was like a lacrosse player in highschool??? not totally relevant but a blonde man with that much audacity and confidence should not be allowed to be full sized
listen,,, i had to make him tiny. if he were full sized tm//ma would be a much shorter story LMAO
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have you ever thought of the minor key trio in a borrower au? the borrower chapter has me thinking
obviously i have thoughts 🙂↕️
the whole borrower challenge idea formed BECAUSE i had a borrower au idea
beware, this post is a long one.
clara and cooper are both borrowers. they've lived together for years. they're the only family the other has. they met when they were both young, probably too young to be on their own, in the walls of an apartment building. as they've grown, they've switched around different units, but they've never been caught and never left this building.
james, robin, and eliza are three college students renting an apartment together. they're not friends yet, just roommates.
robin, however, has a little secret.
kai isn't her cousin in this au, but c'mon i couldn't seperate them r u kidding. kai is a borrower robin caught when they were 11. they're best friends lowkey. so when robin left for college,,,, kai went too. obvi
he doesn't just live in the open in robin's room, though. even though he trusts robin and she makes sure he has the food and supplies he needs, he's never been reliant on her. kai still choses to live in the walls and try to gather his own resources. he goes out at night and hides from the rest of the household during the day.
so ofc when they move into this new apartment, kai immediately begins to map out the walls. there a little pocket of space right behind robin's closet where he's decided to stay. it's a little further from the rest of the apartment, but as long as he's near robin he rlly doesn't care. he doesn't need to live in the walls. he just wants to keep his borrower dignity.
there's only one problem. these walls have very clearly been lived in.... if not currently then very recently. it takes kai a while to notice, bc he spends most of his time in the out of the way section behind robin's closet,,, but he definitely picks up on it eventually. worn paths around the kitchen. less dust behind certain outlets.
yeah...this place is definitely inhabited.
enter the other two minor key members. the borrower au boyfriends are probably enemies to lovers bc cooper and clara lowkey super suspicious and territorial at first. they could not tell you the last time they met another borrower. and now this dudes here? who are you. why are you here. leave.
it's a rough first meet. but unfortunately for them, kai isn't going anywhere. cooper and clara slowly warm up to him, but kai never tells them about robin. he can't. he just got these two to trust him, now he's going to tell them he broke the first rule of borrower code? so he awkwardly avoids answering questions when they interrogate how he ended up here. he lies about his past. he pretends to be scared of humans.
and i mean,,, he is scared of humans.
kai trusts robin with his life,,,, but he also knows robin is an incredibly rare exception.
so
when james catches clara, he and cooper immediately assume she's a goner.
james and clara's first meet is not one james nelson is proud of. it's one clara will hold over his head until the end of time tbh. it happens in the kitchen, but it's nothing like borrower challenge. it's just clara on the counter. kai and cooper are off doing something else, probably falling in love, so like,,,gross. you know she stormed off from them, was pissed, and wasn't paying proper attention to her environment.
it's past midnight. james is half asleep. he just wanted water.
he opens the cabinet, takes out a glass, turns around-
and freezes.
on the counter, in the center of the open space, is a tiny red headed woman.
lord, he really needs to be getting more sleep. it's too damn early in the semester to start hallucinating now.
but he blinks, and she's still there when his eyes open again. he looks at his hand holding the glass. all five fingers. he can feel the cold kitchen tile under his feet. he's definitely awake.
"are you...real?"
apparently, speaking was the worst move. whatever fear induced trance the tiny woman was in, snaps. she moves, but in the wrong direction. not backwards, not to the wall, not to safety. just a blind scramble to put as much distance between him and her as possible.
towards the edge of the counter.
ugh i can see it so vividly, maybe one day ill write out a full first encounter borrower au scene. without thinking, in a move he regrets almost immediately, james brings the cup down over her. in this au he's literally never seen or heard of borrowers before, so he's probably moving on the instinct you'd use to trap a bug or a small animal. in canon, and in literally any universe once he knows clara, he'd absolutely use his hands. but when they meet for the first time in this au?? she runs into the edge of the glass with a soft plink, instead of tumbling to what's probably her doom.
unfortunately for him, this makes her panic more. obviously. bc now not only has clara been seen, she's also been caught. insert the classic first encounter conversation where she's begging him not to hurt her and he's all "lord, girl, will you just calm down? i ain't tryin' to hurt you. i'm sorry. i'm so sorry. but i can't just lift the glass and have you fallin' to your death. please calm down. i'll let you go, just please stop cryin'."
delicious.
in the end, she calms down enough to stop being a danger to herself and he lifts the glass. there is absolutely no trust or soft friendship yet. clara glares at him once, before disappearing into a shadow.
in the time between that night and them meeting again, james lowkey convinces himself he's fucking crazy. meanwhile, cooper is convincing clara she's fucking crazy. but for different reasons.
clara leaves the interaction..... confused. a little curious. not scared, not hurt- intrigued. he let her go,,, and he didn't tell the others about it. ofc she wants to know more. and cooper, the only sane borrower left apparently, thinks this is even stupider than the fact that she let herself get caught in the first place. he's a human. he trapped her. who cares if he let her go?? he let her go this time. she's being stupid and reckless. this isn't just a death wish for herself, she's going to drag all of them into it.
they fight about this for weeks.
kai realizes he can never tell them about robin.
clara keeps visiting james behind kai and cooper's back. she vaugly tells him about them, but james honestly respects that borrowers are supposed to live in secret. he sees his friendship with clara as an honor, not entitlement to meet the others. she doesn't talk about them too much, and he never pushes. he tells her about himself instead. like where he came from before going to westdale. he tries to explain football to her, but it's a little too advanced into human society for her to understand.
at some point, eliza starts to get suspicious that their apartment is infested. she doesn't immediately jump to fictional borrowers,,, but she does suggest talking to the landlord about mice.
which is SO fucking funny bc now both robin and james are lowkey gaslighting her to protect the existence of their friends without knowing the other knows.
sorry liza
at least you don’t have mice
and on the other side,,, the day cooper finds out the two people in his life have been breaking borrower code behind his back to sneak off with humans?? he literally blue screens
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When it comes to tm//ma how often are you actually writing chapters for them? I know you’ve got a bunch in queue but I also know that mentally you’re wayyy further in their storyline (I can tell how dear and established they are to you!). Personally I find it sooo intimidating to write for characters that I have well established in my head because once it’s out there, it’s out there, and the more beloved a storyline the more of a perfectionist people tend to become when bringing them to life. I feel like you’ve got this opposite thing going on where you love them sm and are not afraid to put them out into the world. Tips? Thoughts? Processes? Xoxo Mimi!
hi :) i kinda rambled here oops
ok fun fact, if you look at my masterlist you’ll see it’s actually from a whole year before i started tm//ma. that’s because this is actually my second time trying to write it. i was such a perfectionist the first time that i scared myself out of it after a few chapters 🫣
ur so right, like most writers i love my silly characters and i want to do them justice. but i also want the world to love them too,,,, and how’s anyone gonna love em if they stay in my head? there’s nobody who can write this story but me
another thing that’s rlly helped with my perfectionism is just writing every single idea i think of, and then deciding if it’s good later.
i could genuinely rewrite tm//ma another 4 times with different characters as the emotional core. there is SO MUCH in my mind that i’ve cut from the story bc i was worried it would have too much going on. theres 6 different povs, and i’ve developed every character with incredibly in depth histories and plot lines. but thats just too much for a single story, yknow?
i might have mentioned this before? but the story was originally supposed to have kai and robin at the core. it changed everything and nothing. still the condensing. it still held the social/political elements. it had the same big climax, just with different characters involved. overall tho, it was a totally different story tbh. there was a bigger focus on james and his football team. kai had a whole side plot about how high school after the condensing affected him. james drove a shitty old truck. clara and cooper were actually wlw/mlm hostility, not just bickering siblings. poor eliza lost a whole arc tbh. most of it isn’t relevant to the plot anymore, but like, i’ve written some of it anyway. if not as a fully fleshed story then a very in depth info dump
it helps me look back and cherry pick the strongest story elements
i’m also incredibly adhd, and sometimes it clashes with my perfectionism and totally halts productivity. to combat this i am a chronic overplotter. even tho i don’t have the entire story written yet, i know exactly what happens in the rest of the chapters down to each scene. (there’s 32 chapters of canon btw. bye when i said i narrowed down story elements i actually i narrowed down NONE of it HAHA) (and i have an epilogue idea too these guys live rent free in a penthouse in my head) so if im rlly interested in a later scene, ill just write it now. i dont typically force myself to write chronologically. the only reason im so ahead now is bc im a full time student and damn near full time employee. i’m taking summer classes, n i forced myself to bang out a bunch of chapter before my new semester started. realistically, im only writing a few hours a week, and it’s pretty spread out.
i have a lot of elements in the story. it’s kinda hard to keep track of sometimes tbh. i mean,,, nine posted chapters in and we’re only starting to touch on family histories. writing ahead has been rlly helpful bc i can go back and change things before it’s posted. in my mind, once it’s hit tumblr dot com i cannot go back and change it lol. i think in terms of finished chapters i currently have 4 more in queue? but i’m frequently adjusting them, and i have a lot more written that’s just not compiled into scenes
and a little confession?? i don’t think im doing my sillies enough justice with tm//ma. it’s SO vivid and so so good in my head. but some of the plot points and reveals aren’t set up as strongly as they could be. i think once i finally finish the entire story i cannot go back and readjust some things making into much better.
but i also remind myself that nobody sees the story i have in my head. like,,, going back to the original story being about kai and robin, i feel like you can absolutely tell looking at the plot. kai’s going home arc, robin being rlly into the activism, they were all much bigger parts of the story. and when i reread canon tm//ma, part of me feels unsatisfied with the way those plot lines fell to the side. bc in my mind they’re so detailed, but they’re no longer that relevant in canon.
fortunately for me, nobody can see into my brain lol. they’re not comparing the concept to the execution. they only see my final product. and like,,,, i’m writing this thing for free, the only one who has to think it’s good enough is me :)
my queue isn’t just finalized chapters. it’s filled with rambles, info dumps, cut scenes, and little two lined thoughts i have. posting all of it kinda helps rip off the bandaid with perfectionism. plus more content :)
