ghostwrittenmadness

[ghostwrittenmadness]

"you're so tiny coded" would heal me i fear

An incomplete list of things my non g/t friends who knows I like g/t has said to me

"Stop leaving your windows open, you'll get snatched by a giant. Wait no that's the goal."

"Your so tiny coded"

"No, no, that's something a tiny person would wear. It suits you."

"Don't get snatched by a giant! I'd miss you."

"Send me a bullet point list of things you like in g/t stories."

"If you were tiny I'd put you in a claw clip"

"Stop buying miniuaters it won't make you shrink!"

"Here i bought you a miniuatere."

"I'd put you in a jar and roll it down the stairs like an asmr video if I could."

"You can't be tiny. You have to much gyatt."

Thank you for your time.

[ghostwrittenmadness]

chapter two- the major//minor archives

oh baby we are back. previous masterlist

Growing up, Eliza Jones would cry when thinking about the cold pigeons in the winter. They had no home, and it was not their fault humans abandoned them. How cruel of an existence it must be, to become domesticated and reliant, only to be kicked to the curb when your use was up. She would watch the birds out her bedroom window with a pit in her stomach, harboring guilt for a situation she did not cause, nor could she truly solve. Despite that, after one particularly cold night, she had her dad help build a mini pigeon shed (box with hay inside) and leave it on their apartment’s roof. 

Then in the summers she would leave bowls of water out there too. 

It didn't solve the problem. But when she forced away all the thoughts off the pigeons in the city she couldn't help, the knowledge of the ones she did eased the pain.

She learned early on that if she wasn’t pursuing a purpose, Eliza felt overwhelmingly untethered. 

She would be the first to admit she had a good life. Whenever she went home she was greeted by supportive parents who were happy, healthy, and married. She was an only child who had her own bedroom in an apartment she had lived in her whole life. She commuted to an incredible college located in the same city she called home. She didn’t struggle in school, she thought she was pretty, and she had only gotten a pimple on picture day once. 

Sometimes it felt too good. The other shoe had to drop eventually, but she was going twenty-one years strong. Even the Condensing brushed past her and her family with no real impact. 

She was fortunate. Incredibly so, and she knew it. 

There was no reasons for her to feel the ways she did. Other people had warrant for the dread and overwhelm they felt. Things actually effected them. Sometimes, she wished something bad would happen to her. Something just to validate her feelings. When she was eight, she prayed to God that she would break her leg. She wasn’t religious, it was her first and last time praying. 

Went unanswered too.

What elements of her life justified the nauseating anxiety she woke up to? The bone deep tire that never left? 

She felt guilty when she lingered on these emotions for too long. It wasn’t fair of her to wallow when other people had real problems. 

So instead, Eliza Jones honed in on her knack for helping people. 

It was a win win really. She used her blessings to better other people’s lives, and also got to ignore her own. For years, this method worked. Helping people felt really nice, even if nobody said thanks. She knew she made a difference, and that was enough to keep the guilt at bay.

She picked at her nails, trying desperately to avoid the conversation happening around her.

The new problem was- helping people wasn’t working anymore.

Her attempts to help weren’t helping anymore.

“We have to make a statement,” Cooper was saying. “There are people in these comments accusing us of profiting off what happened- or others saying its straight up fake news to boost the channel.”

“Yes, because we have enough power to manipulate every news outlet- local and nationwide, into spreading fake news.” Clara rolled her eyes. 

“Well obviously it’s not true,” Cooper turned his phone to her, scrolling through comments too small for Eliza to read. “I’m just telling you what the rumors are.

“Guys, please,” James rubbed his temples. “Stop bickering.”

Eliza couldn’t blame them. Everyone was stressed. Not only did an innocent girl die at their school, but Major//Minors absolutely took off. It didn’t feel as good as Eliza had hoped it would. In fact, this was all her fault.

She had double and triple checked with Clara, Cooper, and Kai if she could upload the footage. If there were lie detectors small enough, Eliza would have hooked them up to those too. They swore it was okay. The end footage was heavy, but realistic. It captured the exact dangers Eliza wanted to spotlight. 

And man, did Major//Minor explode after the first full video.

Sure, there were many incredible comments praising her and her friends for taking a stance on a topic so unaddressed. But it was hard for her to focus on those when there were just as many making jokes about the student who died at Westdale. Eliza wasn’t naïve. She knew that was unfortunately what catapulted the series into the light. But maybe her faith in humanity was a little too high, because she didn’t expect so many horrible people to come out of the woodworks.

Together, the group had a little statement scribbled up within the hour, and as soon as It was done, they propped a camera up in James’ dorm and hit record.

“We can’t say much, since it’s only speculation.” Eliza said. As the face of Major//Minor, she was the only one talking. Robin sat next to her fidgeting with her rings. Kai and Cooper were together on her shoulder and on her other side James sat with Clara. It was a bit of a squish to get everyone in frame, but it wasn’t like this was a high end aesthetic video. “We’ve heard things around campus, but nothing is confirmed, and we wouldn’t want to pass it off as true. That could harm the investigation, y’know?”

They had made other videos since that day, but the elephant in the room was becoming too much. Whether the group liked it or not, the series had grown synonymous with the attack on campus. An official statement seemed overdue. 

“What we know, is that just under two weeks ago a student passed away on campus. Her identity hasn’t been made public yet, but as students here we’ve been told it was a girl. Sophomore year. She was- a member of the smaller campus.”

Eliza never knew how to address those affected by the Condensing. Most of the times she said just that. Others said ‘the miniaturized’, and James pointed out how that implied them to be altered in some way. Not human, just mini. 

Cooper said he read too much into it, but it was the only thing Eliza could think of whenever she said it.

The more vile members of society called them “tinies”, throwing the word out with so much hate it felt like a slur.

But there was no universally neat way to refer to the new category of population.

Member of the smaller campus probably wasn’t the best way either. It felt clunky, and even as Eliza said it, she made a face.

“Whats more important, though,” She continued, “is that this case is being treated as a murder. It’s all still new, so the police haven’t made many announcements. We don’t know why they believe it to be malicious, but as they fill us in, we will fill you in.”

The group nodded.

“But theres one more thing we want to say.” Eliza straightened up. “This is not fiction. This is not a gag to draw attention to this series. This is a real case with a real victim. There is family, grieving somebody who will never come home. I understand the timing is interesting, but we had been posting shorter clips long before this. Just because our first official vlog documented the aftermath on campus doesn’t mean it's some stunt we pulled for views. People in the comments need to grow up and have some respect for the dead.”

Nobody couldn’t believe the comments they saw after the first vlog. When it was uploaded, the fanbase tripled overnight. They went from twelve followers to twelve hundred. With the exposure came trolls and haters. Eliza should have guessed if people felt strongly for a cause, there would be people who felt just as passionately against it. 

Still, they were horrible. Some made light of the girls death, others wished similar things to her friends. 

She hoped the victim’s family didn’t read the comments. She also hoped the comments would slow down after this. They were the minority-

She made a face at the silent pun.

-but the angry comments felt so much louder than the support. Cooper had made many jokes about becoming an infamous influencer through their project, but Eliza didn’t think any of them knew how soon that would come true. 

People around Westdale, the college and city, posted sneaky photos of the six of them and made small talk on campus like they knew them. It was the worst time to find fame, and under horrible circumstances too.  Some people totally ignored the whole point of the video series, and got oddly parasocial with them. It had only been a week since the accident on campus when a freshman approached her and Cooper, asking the smaller boy if he missed playing lacrosse. Eliza didn't even know Cooper used to play lacrosse. Apparently, he was captain in high school, with a bright future of scholarships and college teams ahead. It all went out the window, for obvious reasons, and he had never even mentioned sports to the group. Yet this stranger knew his stats from three years ago.

The notoriety was the furthest goal of the Major//Minors. Eliza wanted attention on the issues, not her. But at the end of the day a view was a view. It was eyes on their videos. It brought attention to the problems around the Condensing regardless, even if nobody anticipated the extreme example that would fall in their lap.

After wrapping the video, everyone hung around in James’ dorm. He sat at his desk, with Clara leaning against his forearm. Cooper and Kai were conversing to themselves on James’ nightstand, while Robin showed Eliza quicker ways to edit videos on the bed. 

It turns out, Eliza had been doing it all wrong. 

“James who are you texting?” Clara asked. She waited a whole second before answering her own question, leaning her entire body over James’ hand to see his screen. “Who’s Oliver?”

James shook her off. “You’re so nosey! He’s somebody I know from another class.”

“Pause,” Cooper’s eyes widened. “You have other friends?”

“I’m wounded.” Eliza placed a hand over her heart. All of her friends had other friendships- they weren’t in their own isolated bubble of course. But they told each other about new people they met. Sure, maybe they gossiped a little more than they should, but if they didn’t, they would quickly run out of things to talk about. Just the other day, Eliza had spent over an hour talking about the cute boy in one of her classes, Trevor. “James how could you? How long have you known him?”

“Why have we never heard about him before?” Kai asked.

James raised his hand, like it could stop the onslaught of nosey friends. “We met in my foreign language class, he’s texting me because he needs help with the homework.”

“Are you friends?” Robin asked.

“Not really, we got lunch after class once but-”

Cooper cut him off. “Oh, James, once you hang out outside of class you’re friends.”

“And you have each other’s numbers.” Clara pointed out, returning to her spot against him and pulling out her own phone.

“We got food together once, and I don’t even know him that well.” James said. “He’s some science major, so he’s never in the dual building. I see him for one class and we only ever talk about that class.”

“And?”

James shook his head with a laugh.“That's it! Maybe the reason none of us can make new friends is because when somebody gets close y’all start acting like this!”

“Like what?” Eliza asked. “Excited for you?”

“Stalkerish.”

“We are not being stalkerish.”

James raised an eyebrow, turning to the smaller girl sitting against his forearm. “Clara what are you doing?”

“Currently 3 years deep into Oliver’s instagram.”

Eliza sighed. 

“It’s not as crazy as it sounds, the account is public and attached to his full name. It wasn’t hard to find.” Clara said. “Plus he’s only got eight photos and none are from this year, so it tells me nothing.”

“Clara doesn’t count,” Eliza started. “And neither does Cooper. Most of us are normal and not stalkers." A pause. "Also, wait, full name? Clara, James only told us his first name.”

Clara turned her phone to them with a bright grin. “Oliver Deering! Sophomore, won the science fair in high school.”

Robin ignored her. “Quite frankly I’m a little offended you’re acting like we’re the family you have to prep talk others before meeting. You've been tentative class buddies a whole semester and haven't mentioned him once.”

“Yeah! What else are you hiding?” Kai asked. "Wouldn't be surprised if you turned out to be Batman or something."

James sighed. “You are all far too codependent for this.”

Clara looked like he just kicked her dog and spit in her drink. “We are not codependent.”

“You sure?”

“Could a codependent person drop out of school and move back home?” Kai asked.

All smiles instantly fell away.

For a long moment, there was silence.

“Kai, what?” Cooped asked.

His boyfriend let out a nervous laugh. “I was waiting for a better time to bring it up, but there has been literally no good transition. A lot happened today and it looked like that time wasn’t coming, so-”

“But what do you mean,” Robin asked.

“Mama wants me to come home.” 

Clara sat up. “Why? It it because of the girl?”

“Apparently showing how dangerous it is to navigate the world really freaked her out. I’m fighting with her on it, since there’s no sense in dropping out a year before I graduate. But she’s really upset.”

“Does she know we go everywhere together?” Robin asked. Eliza didn’t know the entire history behind Robin and Kai, but she knew they were peas in a pod. Cousins who were attached at the hip. Robin was essentially Kai’s keeper, if his mom wanted him home, that was basically an insult to Robin.

“If your mom doesn’t think that’s enough, just send her a picture of James.” Cooper said.

“What? Why me?”

“Ex varsity football player, six foot three, still built as if he were a practicing athlete?” He said, like it was obvious. “You can be pretty scary, James Nelson.”

This seemed legitimately distressing to James. “You think I’m scary?”

“No,” Clara cut in. “You wouldn’t hurt a fly, and you look it too. You’ve got a real misleading babyface.”

“Not the point. All I’m saying,” Cooper continued, “Is Ms. Bennett doesn’t have to know that. All she needs to see is James with Kai in his hands and I’m sure she’ll change her mind. Hell even give her Eliza's house phone, her parents are basically our parents. Kai is well cared for.”

“I don’t want to go,” Kai said. “It’s not like I’d be any safer trapped in my house for the rest of my life. The thought makes me want to jump off a table.”

“You could do what Clara did,” Cooper suggested. 

Eliza knew a little more about Clara’s past, but still no full story. She knew the smaller girl left home and never planned to look back. No doubt she had her reasons, but when Eliza turned to Robin, her face was grey at the thought of Kai doing the same.

“Despite what Mama says, I’m definitely finishing out this year,” Kai said. “We have, what, five weeks left? In what world does withdrawing from classes now make sense. I’m also toying with the idea of staying in Westdale for the summer, wherever that ends up being.”

Robin pressed her lips together, but didn’t make a comment. 

“It’s just,” Kai motioned to his cousin. “Not fair to Robin. Our parents sent us to Westdale as a package deal. There's no way she can return home empty handed. But I’m just worried if I go- I won’t be allowed come back. ”

“If that happens, are you still going to finish your degree?” Clara turned to Robin. 

Robin could only shrug. “I’m finding this out as you are,” 

“I only found out last night!” Kai defended.

Robin waved him off. “Doesn’t matter, it’d be last minute either way. Theres an internship over the summer at the Westdale Journal. I wasn’t going to apply because if I got in, I would be required to stay in the city. But if thats the plan, it wouldn’t hurt to submit my resume. And since the program is through the college, I could stay in a dorm. The easiest way to ensure we both come back is if neither of us go home.” Whenever Robin needed to think, she often did it outloud, spilling out information and working through it at a speed Eliza got headaches trying to follow. She ignored the other girls rambles of internships and cut in.

“I’d have to double check with my parents, but I can’t imagine they’d object to you staying with me, if you need.” Eliza offered. “Either of you, or even both. I have a trundle bed.”

“Dibs on it,” Kai grinned. “Imagine I get a bed all to myself.”

“We would lose you in it,” James said, setting down his phone. “I can’t be the only one going home this summer guys, I’ll get fomo.”

“Well, there’s no room for you in my apartment.” Clara said. “But I already smuggle Cooper in for the summers, if you need Kai, we can make room for one more. It’s one a one bedroom, but I wouldn’t mind giving you two the bed to share and taking the couch. As long as you behave.”

Cooper rolled his eyes. “Girl, please.”

Eliza smiled, trying to focus on her friends, and not the guilt pooling in her stomach. First, she accidentally gave radical hate groups a platform to validate murder. And now, her project was going to be the sole reason her friend got pulled from school. The universe, 2, Eliza, 0.

next (coming soon) taglist: @poppy-popping-off

[ghostwrittenmadness]

oh mad this semester WRECKED ME

[ghostwrittenmadness]

i NEED a story about a borrower that sees all the spikes punk fashion and assume it for safety/think it's rlly smart, so they find some ways to craft their own. where are the alt borrowers give them to me now

irl i dress very punk/alternative and this prompts the hilarious scenario of a giant going to grab me and me being like “wait” *takes off spiky boots* *takes off spiky jacket* *takes off spiky jewelry* *takes off spiky belt* “okay NOW you can grab me :) it’s safe”

[ghostwrittenmadness]

chapter one- the major//minor archives

does this look familiar? it might!! i've redone the first few chapters of tm//ma to have a smoother start. this chapter is pretty similar but the next few are gonna divert pretty heavily from the original. imo it's worth the reread ! previous masterlist tws: death mention

Clara Grace wasn’t thrilled about the video series. 

Okay, that was harsh. More accurately, she didn’t care for it. It was a neutral standpoint. She wasn’t opposed. If she was, she wouldn’t be here- Kai’s camera in her hands, trying to figure out the settings.

Eliza wouldn’t force her to join a project she wasn’t invested in, everyone got final say on the footage uploaded, and truthfully- the concept was really good. 

People knew objectively that society wasn’t seamlessly merged after the Condensing. But unless they were part of the minimized, most people seemed to believe they’d done all they could. That it was good enough. There were towns and cities dedicated to the minimized, they had jobs and educations- what more could people need?

This video series would help show the crumbling interiors of the tiny towns. How just three years later, they were rapidly decaying. Maybe it could bring to light how unaccessible most of the world was, even well integrated places like Westdale. 

All and all, The Major//Minors was a net positive. But selfishly?

Clara clicked record.

It felt like a bit of an exposé.

“Uh, hey.” She immediately understood Eliza’s struggle to speak to the camera when the taller girl made the first video. All half ass scripts and phrases left Clara’s brain momentarily. She didn’t have Eliza’s bubbly nature to pull this awkwardness off, but maybe post editing would save this. Five seconds in and she was already struggling. “We drew straws, and I’m recording the first vlog- if that’s what we’re calling them. If you didn’t watch the first video, my name is Clara Grace, and I was part of the Condensing when I was seventeen. And now, this is my life as a college student.”

She looked over to the clock.

“I guess I’m taking you along for the day? We should probably get going.”

It was a little awkward recording in public. After a few weird glances, Clara switched over to her phone, hoping her narrations could pass off as a FaceTime call.

“So, I am the only one in my friend group that lives off campus, which on one hand is nice because I live in the Heights. But it also means I have to leave my house two hours before classes start- just to go to a school in the same damn city. Which is,” she sighed, “annoying.” 

She made sure to pan around and take in the views of Westdale Heights. Maybe Eliza could pull together a little montage. The heights were the tiny part of the city, named after the artificially elevated land it sat on. It was on the edge of the main city, but when Clara looked to the distance there were still impossibly high skyscrapers that towered over the area. She made sure to get shots of the broken buildings and cracked streets. Westdale put in a lot of effort to maintain drainage systems in the Heights- a light drizzle often flood everything after all. Unfortunately, nobody accounted for the bad hail storm the city had a year ago. Nothing had been done to repair the aftermath.

She also focused in on the charm of the city. “It’s the little things that make me love it here,” She said. “No pun intended.” 

There was a shop window that had a popsicle stick propped up. The name of the store was written on it in big swirling script, rather than having a sign above the door. Above it, thimbles  sat like flowerpots in the windows. A pizzeria’s outdoor seating comprised of the plastic white “tables” used to prop up regular pizza boxes.  A chocolate store sold Hershey’s by the square, rather than the bar. 

The closer she got to the bus stop for Westdale students, the more the charm of the Heights began to fade. “For those who don’t live in Westdale, or maybe just don’t know, there’s three main zones in the city. Regular ol’ Westdale, the Heights, and the Falls. Welcome, to Westdale Falls.” 

The Falls was the overlap of the two sizes, uniting the city of Westdale. It started at a slope by the edge of the smaller city and continued a few blocks of the larger one. On the larger side were dual sized apartment complexes, restaurants and venues. On her side though, there was less as she approached the border. Clara didn’t know if it was just underdeveloped, or a safety thing. 

There were a ton of signs, letting people know they were reaching the end of the smaller city. They weren’t exactly danger signs, but they seemed like warnings none the less. Clara zoomed in on them as she walked passed. 

“HEIGHTS ENDS HERE.” “YOU ARE LEAVING WESTDALE HEIGHTS.” “WELCOME TO THE FALLS.” “SIZES MERGE SOON.”

When she looked at them for too long, a pit formed in her stomach. The “caution, danger ahead” wasn’t quite unspoken. Instead, she turned her camera forward. “Westdale College has it’s own private bus route that stops in Falls and on campus.” She explained. “It’s underground, pretty cool stuff.”

The station was stuffy inside, with the heat still on from winter despite it being a nice spring day. 

“Most of my traveling is done underground, or in enclosed pathways. Which sucks, on nice days like today. But it makes sense, I guess.”

The bus ride to campus was long, despite it being a direct route. Clara knew she didn’t have it in her to talk to the camera the whole time, so she got a few more montage shots and put her phone down.

Would her family watch Major//Minors? Would they even know to look for it? She hadn’t spoken to them in months, not after her third summer without coming home. 

The guilt kept her up sometimes, but Clara feared visiting would be worse. 

They just- treated her so differently after the condensing. Like she was a fragile infant capable of nothing. 

She wouldn’t tell the camera that, though. How obnoxious. A loving family.

People died after the condensing.

And here Clara was, across the country, running from people who cared for her.

It wasn’t so bad to video chat, and truly she missed them. It just felt like they forgot she was a human sometimes. Yes, she needed help getting from place to place, and that dependence in itself was mortifying. She didn’t also need to be coddled. Growing up she was left to her own devices so often. She’d learned the only person she could rely on was herself. Yet after the Condensing, the very parents who instilled those beliefs in her flipped, suddenly able to provide a suffocating amount of love and care.

Clara’s ideal world was one where she needed nobody. Where she was self sustaining and could live alone. Maybe with a cat. And a wife, but only if she was allowed be the one to cook. The universe, of course, was cruel. Now, she needed people. Unavoidably and desperately. 

How messed up. 

“As you can see, there’s a bit of a difference between the city and campus.” Clara said, panning her camera around the smaller side of campus. “We are no longer underground anymore, but we are still inside. And from now until we leave this part of campus, we will remain inside. But hey! There’s windows- sometimes.”

The smaller side of campus was tucked into one of the classroom buildings. It held the dorms, the minimized dining hall, and classes. There were also dual sized courses and spots to eat, exclusively located in this building. Any event for the entire student body was held here. “There are pathways to get around the building, but if you have two back to back dual sized classes, you do better when you befriend somebody with longer legs.” She explained to the camera. “Like me, so let’s go find them.” 

 The lobby of the smaller campus, if you could call it that, funneled into a long hallway. There were doors and off shoots lining the walls, but at the very end it opened up to a balcony, table height with the rest of the college. There were multiple spots around the building like this, albeit smaller, since this was the main one. 

“Welcome to the pick up zone,” Clara said, panning her phone around. 

“Couldn’t get the camera to work?” A voice asked behind her. Turning around, she zoomed in on Kai Bennett, with his boyfriend, Cooper Bell.

“No, I did. But I felt like an obnoxious influencer, walking around the Heights at seven in the morning panning a fancy camera everywhere.”

“Well, if this kicks off, welcome to the influencer life,” Cooper pointed out. He got up close to the camera making a face.

“Jesus christ, ew.” Clara ended the recording, lowering her phone. “I’ll pick that up again later, I guess. Oh! Kai, you can have this back.” She passed the fancy camera back to her friend, who grinned.

“I don’t believe you that you were able to work it.”

“I was! Check the tapes, I’m there. So is the lady who lives down the block shooting me a nasty glare. This is just easier.”

“Oh, sure,” Cooper drawled.

The three of them bonded over being effected in the Condensing as freshman two years ago. Clara hated being their third wheel all the time, but they were the only people who understood familial distance and didn’t judge.

She glanced around the crowded platform. “Why are there so many people here?”

“It’s after midterms,” Cooper said. “I think half the student body just got their grades back and realized showing up to class is pretty important.”

“Can you blame them though?” She asked. “I mean look at all this hassle. Just to watch a professor go through a slide show you’ll find online later?”

Her phone buzzed, a text from James. 

We’re walking over now.

“C’mon, they’re almost here.”

As the trio approached the edge of the platform, the other half of their group also appeared. James, Eliza, and Robin.

“Good morning!” Eliza sang. “Who’s ready to go to Finance!”

Clara became friends with the five of them fall of freshman year, when they all had the same elective. Coincidentally, they also shared a class spring semester. Most of them were different majors, so the group made sure to take at least one class a semester with each other. It didn’t matter though, they spent most days attached at the hip anyway. It was Cooper’s utterly genius idea to take intro to finance for the spring semester of their junior year. Because, yeah, why take a blow off class during the busiest time of your collegiate career? That’s for lazy people. 

“I failed the midterm.” Clara admitted. 

“I mean, you walked into the midterm saying that, dare I say it- was going to happen.” James said, lowering his hand for her. 

 James Nelson, her best friend, managed to be the perfect balance of helpful and liberating. He was a godsend for Clara, never making her feel the way she did around her family. Even Eliza and Robin, who had the purest of intentions, babied her sometimes. 

Maybe she would too, in their shoes. It was an instinctual thing, Clara guessed. Small creature need help, must provide. Or whatever. 

But James passed the reigns to her. She got to decide when to be picked up and where to go. It was never a big deal when she needed help. Half the time, he knew what she needed before she could even ask, but James always waited for her permission regardless. 

She stepped forward, using James’ finger to pull herself onto his palm. No matter who she was with, it was the things like this that didn’t get any less weird, even three years later. She constantly pushed her brain to focus on something other than the sheer scale difference between her entire body and a single on of James’ fingers.

James waited a moment, and when Clara found her balance he shifted his hand up to his shoulder before pausing again. The change in elevation felt like an elevator on rollercoaster speeds, but her body learned to adjust quickly, even if her mind didn’t. 

“I see recording is going well, Clara.” Robin Gray said as the group head to class. Kai was perched on her shoulder, with Cooper in Eliza’s hands.

“I mean, there’s nothing to record right now.”

“What if you start recording too late and you miss it.” Cooper interjected.

“Yes, Coop. Because something riveting is going to occur in finance.”

James’ shoulder shook gently under her as he cracked a smile. 

When Clara looked over to Eliza, her brow was furrowed slightly with her lower lip tucked under her teeth. Thanks, Cooper, her brain probably latched onto his point, and now she worried. Eliza wanted this project to go well. She was trusting her friends with the success of her brain child, and frankly it was a nauseating amount of pressure for Clara.

She sighed, pulling out her phone. 

“Sorry for the cut, the balcony was a little crowded today,”

“The hallways are too,” James added. His hand hovered in front of Clara as they walked through a dense group of kids. She had good balance, but it would not be the first time a stray shoulder sent her tilting. 

“This is incredible footage,” She mused, zooming in into James’ fingerprints. She guessed there was merit to continue recording, even if the visuals lacked. A unified school did not automatically lend itself to being a safe school. 

Sure, anything was dangerous at three inches tall.

But there were students with no spacial awareness, students who couldn’t care less, and unfortunately, there were students with malicious intent. 

Westdale College had something appealing for everyone. For Clara, it was a sense of normalcy. A school integrated enough where she could pretend everything was fine. Sometimes, when the lighting hit the smaller campus just right, she felt 5’8” again, and all was right in the world. For others, Westdale College was best for its easy access. Because it wasn’t enough to be a bad person and keep it in your diary for some people.

There were gangs throughout the country dedicated to tormenting those affected by the Condensing. They believed the experiment’s outcomes made the miniaturized less human. Less valuable. They didn’t have names, and if they did then they weren’t relevant enough for anyone to care-  but all the groups had the same theory:

No body, no crime

These people didn’t try to hide their hostility to those miniaturized. To them, smaller people weren’t human anymore. They hadn’t been for three years. They could do anything to those effected by the condensing, because as long as they were never caught, then did it ever really count? And when your victim in three inches tall, its uncomfortably easy to get away with it.

Westdale College had its own mini gang of degenerates like this. From tormenting those waiting at the pick up zones alone to leaving posters and graffiti around the school- though sparse and often harmless, they knew when to strike.

If Eliza wanted footage of the hardships she went through, Clara could deliver. 

She recorded on and off throughout the day, not catching much aside from Cooper getting a wadded up gum wrapper dropped on him at one of the platforms. 

“Ow!”

She giggled behind the camera, once she knew he was okay of course. “Oh please, there’s nothing in that head of yours to damage.”

During a gap in her schedule, she joined James for his afternoon class and spent the entire time taking a nap in his pocket. 

There were few positives to the Condensing. Hidden nap time all the time? That was Clara’s top one. 

She found herself recording once again in James’ dorm, at the end of the day. The whole group was there, sans Robin who was finished her night class. Clara was next to Kai in frame, letting him talk about his day. Although she started the video as her own vlog, the group interjected their own thoughts and stories throughout. She also knew James and Robin had recorded some of their own footage too. Clara liked this division of work a lot more than the pressure being on her and her alone to make a good video.

“I had my hand raised the whole time and the teacher just- would not pick on me!” Kai was saying. “And in that classroom, the smaller desks are an extension built atop the original ones. I was literally sitting with my cousin, Robin. There’s no way the professor didn’t see me.” He huffed. “Then- after like ten minutes Robin raised her hand too? All of the sudden now prof is taking questions?”

“That’s how it goes, yeah.” Clara said. “And if they do pick on you, good luck getting them to hear you.”

“That’s why I get whoever I’m with to ask all my questions.” Cooper said from off to the left.

Clara made a face. “Well, I like to do things myself.”

Westdale didn’t have any co-sized dorms, it was where they drew the line apparently. The only dorms in the co-sized building were tiny ones. But most days after classes, the group found themselves in James’ dorm. He was the only one with a single, and had decorated the entire room to be easily navigated by Clara, Kai, and Cooper. 

She loved it. As soon as James’ placed her on his desk, the world was her oyster, even if moving around was slow. When Kai was finished with his ramble, she had him hold her phone, recording her as she gave a tour of James’ room. They had been going HGTV style, with Clara walking backwards like a campus tour guide, but James banned that after she almost walked off the desk.

Eventually, everyone settled down. Kai and Clara sat in front of the camera, with Eliza in frame behind them. They weren’t talking about anything important, and she was sure this would be cut first. Her phone storage was not going to survive this project.

There was a knock on on the door, cutting Kai off from a continued ramble. There was only one person it could be, since Robin’s last class of the day ended a few minutes before. 

“It’s open!” 

Like a storm, Robin had the door flung open before James could finish speaking. Knocking, it seems, had been less of a question and more of a heads up. “We’re needed in the res hall, all of us

“Why?” Eliza asked, catching her jacket that Robin took off the hook and tossed. 

“Questioning. By the police. Something happened.”

From out of frame, Cooper pointed smugly at Clara. “Glad we’re recording?”

“This is serious,” Robin exclaimed. Clara believed her, she’d never heard Robin sound so urgent. So distraught.

“What happened?” James asked.

“I don’t know the full story. I don’t even know if what I heard is true. But there's about a dozen cop cars on campus, and investigators want to speak to everyone who had been in the dual sized building today. Somebody died.”

Some unspoken questions answered themselves. Suddenly, Clara wasn’t sure she wanted this camera on her. In fact, in a 180 from twelve hours ago, she’d made up her mind about the video series. It sucked.

next taglist: @poppy-popping-off

[ghostwrittenmadness]

being on facetime with people is my favorite “not g/t but has its moments that feel vaguely g/t” activity. the pov has you either in somebody’s hands or propped up on a table,,, sometimes my brain just latches onto the perspective and all i can think about is being tiny. like sometimes when my friends look over the phone to talk to somwbody irl how am i NOT supposed to feel like im there but im small and hidden out of view

was on the phone with my best friend yesterday and he said "im gonna put you in my pocket, k?" and i had to reboot my brain bc hearing word for word g/t dialogue irk caught me so off guard.

[ghostwrittenmadness]

i love you gt community. i love you gt writers and artists and creatives. i love you people who grew up alongside me in this fandom. i love you new gt fans. i love you people who dont make gt stuff but still reblog and interact. i love you gt fans who are too shy to interact with the fandom at all. i love you gt smut creators. i love you gt fluff creators. i love you people who post gt memes and silly jokes. i love you tinies. i love you giants. i love you size shifters. i love you everyone in between. i love you <3

[ghostwrittenmadness]

there's two types of tinies with animals...

[ghostwrittenmadness]

secrets

[ghostwrittenmadness]

i put a privacy protector on my computer, but now it alters the colors of my art when im drawing idk how long this is gonna last

[ghostwrittenmadness]

I heard your talking about your Oc's, can I hear more about James and Clara?

I don’t have favorite characters, but there are definitely ones I prefer to draw and ones I prefer to write…

If you take a quick scroll through my acc it will surprise no one that James and Clara are SO fun to draw. I adore these two endlessly :)) I know TM//MA as a written story is more focused on Kai & Robin atm, but within the next few chapters it's definitely going to shift lol

Bit of a ramble butttt- Platonic relationships are my absolute favorite thing, they’re incorporated into so many of my stories. I feel like when a lot of people think of /p they picture “oh they’re like a sibling to me” and don’t get me wrong I love those relationships! I’m guilty of mlm/wlw solidarity with a side of sibling bickering hostility myself, look at Clara and Cooper. But I also have such a soft spot for relationships so close that they have all the care and intimacy of a romance,,, but without the romance. Just, this is my person and I love them endlessly. I know them better than myself and we could spend the rest of our lives together as friends and be happy. 

And I shoved all that into Clara and James,,,then made it g/t

They’re best friends who trust each other blindly. James is the only one who can bypass Clara’s need to feel independent. He’s the only one she allows to pick her up and carry her places- nobody else gets that permission. Even though my major//minor sillies are one big friend group, they are definitely their own little duo. James’ backstory is super relevant to the next few chapters and we’re gonna learn why he’s so protective of his friends. He’s that way with everyone he loves, tiny or not,, but Clara is his person. When he’s got her, he knows she’s safe, and that security helps him relax. 

They’re always together and physically touching in some way. If they’re at a table, Clara is leaning against his arm. If they’re walking, she on his shoulder or in his hands. Don’t see Clara? Prob in his pocket. This makes them so fun to draw and I cannot stop doing it. 

As always, ask me about my ocs, it makes my day :)) than you anon!!

[ghostwrittenmadness]

when i was super young, i remember a rlly bad snow storm where like three inches of ice froze OVER the snow. i was light enough that i was able to walk on it, but then there was a thinner spot that caught me so off guard and I disappear into like 4 feet of snow. i imagine that's what its like to be a tiny walking around in the winter.

[ghostwrittenmadness]

Ok you said “ask me about my ocs” and here I am!!!!!

I’d love to hear about your ocs!

Trust I will read the archives soon enough, I’m just swamped with work (by work I mean art lol but ye I really can’t rn)

*Cracks knuckles* Oh buddy welcome to pandoras box :))

Since you said you plan to read the archives I’m not gonna spoil much, no pressure to read it ofc, I just don’t want to ruin it lol. I also only have four chapters out, which are admittedly world building and scene setting atm, but theres so much to come.

The Major//Minor Archives takes place in a world where the “Condensing” happened. It’s my vague way to say a bunch of people shrunk, suspend your disbelief and go with it lol. It’s described as a gov project but we don’t go further into depth bc its not relevant. I have some more unpublished notes about it but they’re shaky and probably subject to potholes, so maybe another time. Basically, three years ago a chunk of the population over the age of fifteen shrunk to ~3 inches. There are tiny cities, jobs, school, etc, but they aren’t great. Plus, it's rlly dangerous to be a tiny. They aren't protected well by law, essentially retaining the same rights as those not shrunk. But to be so small is inherently more dangerous, not to mention hate groups/people who see them as easy targets. There's still a lot to do to integrate the two sizes fully.

My sillies are Eliza, Robin, Kai, Cooper, Clara and James! They are juniors at Westdale College, which was the first school to open a tiny program three years ago. Kai, Cooper, and Clara have been shrunk. They’re 3.2”, 3.5”, and 3” respectively. But all six of them have had some impact from the Condensing. This is the vague unspoiler part, since some of their backgrounds are very relevant to the plot.

Eliza gets inspired by the state of Westdale City to create a video series documenting life in a dual sized area. It’s called “The Major//Minors”, and due to unfortunate events it absolutely takes off. They make a bunch of different content- vlogs, informational vids, silly stuff- but the archives aren’t really about that. It follows my sillies as they navigate the end of their junior year and the ever changing world around them. 

I can go more in-depth of certain characters/relationships but idk where to even start. Lmk if there's any specific people want to hear more about <33

[ghostwrittenmadness]

confession: this is an unposted scene i have for major//minors 🤭 it comes much later in the story, but the idea gripped me so tight that i wrote it early and had to draw it to get out of my system. so i can't say much about the backstory but there's definitely two recognizable ocs in this work

obligatory major//minor archive link here! plus i have quite a bit of art under the tag on my acc

my favorite g/t trope is the "oh shit my giant friend is actually *really* scary" realization while the giant protects the tiny

[ghostwrittenmadness]

my favorite g/t trope is the "oh shit my giant friend is actually *really* scary" realization while the giant protects the tiny

[ghostwrittenmadness]

whenever you think of me just know im in my room like this

[ghostwrittenmadness]