#then i went to kitra

[t34-mt]

outdated pilot design

minimum wage worker in sat'thuckthuck

I don't think I could find an in-world name i can write down since they use chirping and various sounds and their crest to communicate. So ill call them pilots, referring to how they can pilot diesel mechas and other machines.

I think of sat'thuckthuck being stupidly industrialized, with a dieselpunk feel. the surface of the moon is harshly cold for most of the year so pilots have underground shelters. Unfortunately, people with no family, that have a shit job or other circumstances might stay on the surface inside of a mecha for the entire winter. Living inside a mecha is not luxurious, there isn't much place and that space they have might vary on the mecha model.

So this moon is in high contrast with altuyur's non-industrial world, without borders or really any money system that has a prehistory/middle age (north Africa) feel to it. It is quite silly that quadrupedal 8-limbed space corgis have more advanced technology and stuff that looks like what we humans have than the more humanoid bird/dinosaur thing that kyhuines and maanuls are. But I like it that's what i want

about the drawing, id imagine this worker operating something close to a crane or just anything harvesting minerals since i also imagine the place they're in to be a mine. They're wearing gas masks on the face because their workplace isn't filtered correctly, and the mineral harvesting outside can release toxic gas.

each line in the red area are like nostrils, they inhale from there and exhale from that stomach nostril. Animals of altuyur have single pair of nostrils which is usually on their chest, while animals of sat'thuckthuck have head nostrils to get the air in and stomach one to get it out.

also if the hand is different from last pilot drawing its cause I'm still figuring out which type of hand ill like better and i think i like the one from previous drawing move honestly.

[riseleon]

WRITING PRACTICE- trying to get out of my writers block

Winter, the time of the year, the time where you can drink hot cocoa and enjoy the snowfall, the gentle breeze and the snow days, it couldn't be more fun… unless your a freak, an outcast, at least for opal, having feathers had its perks, but walking into town and having people scream at you and call you a “beast, monster, demon” or anything in between hurt, unfortunately she had to go into town, she needed food.

Trenching through the snow, opal looked around, hiding her face as she lowered her wings, get in and out, he hated this, she always dreaded this, the best she can do is hide herself from the town, “in and out” she thought to herself as she appeared in down, same old same old, the screams, the running.

It was the same for opal, rolling her eyes, she opened the door to the store, walking in and looking around, all eyes turned to her as people stared, terrified and hurried out of the store, opal didn't pay them much mind as she browsed the store, picking up the food from her list.

“In and out” she thought again.

She didn't take up much time, heading to the front to pay.. or at least try too, she never had much luck to actually buy anything. Same old same old, the cashier ran away screaming as she tried. Opal sighed, feeling defeated as she placed some money on the till, walking out, every single time.

She hated feeling like an outcast, it wasn't her fault that she was like this, she was harmless, it wasn't like she was going to harm anyone!

Heading back to her home, she placed the food on the table before looking around in despair. It felt so lonely, so cold.. colder than normal, it was upsetting about this, she wished she had someone to talk with.

Days, weeks, years went by as the process kept coming, the screams, the runs, everything was the same until one day.

That old fateful day, opal was coming back from the store, as she walked to her house, she tripped over something. Catching herself from falling, she looked at what tripped her, assuming it was just a rock, brushing the snow off the presumed rock, she could see a lumpy surface, she stopped before digging this thing up.

Something strange, a turtle, or, turtle like, it looked like a turtle, was lying unconscious in the snow.

Opal discarded her food, digging the turtle out before dragging them to her house in hopes the turtle would wake up.

“Where did you come from?” opal asked herself. Examining the turtle, it was strange, she never thought she would find something like this.

She decided to save all questions for when the turtle would wake up, if they even woke up..

Opal kept herself busy, cooking some soup for the turtle, making sure they were kept warm.

After some hours, the turtle finally started to stir. Opal shifted her eyes to the turtle, rushing back to the turtle's slide, watching as the turtle opened their eyes.

“Where am I?” The turtle asked, trying to get up.

Opal was quick to push the turtle back down, “you are in my house, I found you outside unconscious, are you okay?” Opal responded, not wanting the turtle to hurt themself.

“I think.. Why did you help me?” The turtle responded, shifting up slightly but staying laying down overall.

Opal smiled, showing her wings “You're like me, what others call freaks, I call different, I'm opal.”

“Kitra, thank you for helping me” Kitra responded, returning the smile “It's good to find someone like me.”

“You can stay here if you have no place to go, it will be good to have company” Opal Said, sitting down on the couch.

“Thank you opal, I think it will be good to stay here, we can stick together through this world” Kitra responded, sitting up more.

Opal and Kitra shared smiles, telling each other about themselves, joining together through differences.

They weren't so lonely anymore, Kitra stayed there, days turned to months and then years, they loved their company, giggling and laughing through stories, many others joined together, all different, all welcomed. Soon, they had a nice little community, and all were welcome. They weren't monsters or freaks anymore. They were just people. Different but still people

[averagetmntfan]

Here you go

Winter, the time of the year, the time where you can drink hot cocoa and enjoy the snowfall, the gentle breeze and the snow days, it couldn't be more fun… unless your a freak, an outcast, at least for opal, having feathers had its perks, but walking into town and having people scream at you and call you a “beast, monster, demon” or anything in between hurt, unfortunately she had to go into town, she needed food.

Trenching through the snow, opal looked around, hiding her face as she lowered her wings, get in and out, he hated this, she always dreaded this, the best she can do is hide herself from the town, “in and out” she thought to herself as she appeared in down, same old same old, the screams, the running.

It was the same for opal, rolling her eyes, she opened the door to the store, walking in and looking around, all eyes turned to her as people stared, terrified and hurried out of the store, opal didn't pay them much mind as she browsed the store, picking up the food from her list.

“In and out” she thought again.

She didn't take up much time, heading to the front to pay.. or at least try too, she never had much luck to actually buy anything. Same old same old, the cashier ran away screaming as she tried. Opal sighed, feeling defeated as she placed some money on the till, walking out, every single time.

She hated feeling like an outcast, it wasn't her fault that she was like this, she was harmless, it wasn't like she was going to harm anyone!

Heading back to her home, she placed the food on the table before looking around in despair. It felt so lonely, so cold.. colder than normal, it was upsetting about this, she wished she had someone to talk with.

Days, weeks, years went by as the process kept coming, the screams, the runs, everything was the same until one day.

That old fateful day, opal was coming back from the store, as she walked to her house, she tripped over something. Catching herself from falling, she looked at what tripped her, assuming it was just a rock, brushing the snow off the presumed rock, she could see a lumpy surface, she stopped before digging this thing up.

Something strange, a turtle, or, turtle like, it looked like a turtle, was lying unconscious in the snow.

Opal discarded her food, digging the turtle out before dragging them to her house in hopes the turtle would wake up.

“Where did you come from?” opal asked herself. Examining the turtle, it was strange, she never thought she would find something like this.

She decided to save all questions for when the turtle would wake up, if they even woke up..

Opal kept herself busy, cooking some soup for the turtle, making sure they were kept warm.

After some hours, the turtle finally started to stir. Opal shifted her eyes to the turtle, rushing back to the turtle's slide, watching as the turtle opened their eyes.

“Where am I?” The turtle asked, trying to get up.

Opal was quick to push the turtle back down, “you are in my house, I found you outside unconscious, are you okay?” Opal responded, not wanting the turtle to hurt themself.

“I think.. Why did you help me?” The turtle responded, shifting up slightly but staying laying down overall.

Opal smiled, showing her wings “You're like me, what others call freaks, I call different, I'm opal.”

“Kitra, thank you for helping me” Kitra responded, returning the smile “It's good to find someone like me.”

“You can stay here if you have no place to go, it will be good to have company” Opal Said, sitting down on the couch.

“Thank you opal, I think it will be good to stay here, we can stick together through this world” Kitra responded, sitting up more.

Opal and Kitra shared smiles, telling each other about themselves, joining together through differences.

They weren't so lonely anymore, Kitra stayed there, days turned to months and then years, they loved their company, giggling and laughing through stories, many others joined together, all different, all welcomed. Soon, they had a nice little community, and all were welcome. They weren't monsters or freaks anymore. They were just people. Different but still people

I-

HOLY SHIT-??

DUDE THIS IS AMAZINGG- I love these two they’re literally amazing- the writing is beautiful and I could paint myself a visual representation of the scenes UGH-

I havent read a min sorry in Long time

let alone make one-

[crystalelemental]

Okay, for real this time. Unicorn Overlord defeated. There was a bonus chapter. It legitimately feels like a victory lap where every fight was pretty easy to beat. We got Alain's team to level 50. No one else, but like. A lot came close. Anyway! Now that it's definitely 100% over, I wanted to record the teams I used, with some comments on how they did.

Alain/Melisandre, Scarlett/Rosalinde/Nina The ace team. Nina is absurdly strong, Melisandre is a great dodge tank, especially backed by Alain's constant defensive coverage. Alain feels excellent for defense, if crap on offense. He's an excellent general guardian and leader, given the boosted Valor gain and cav movement. Melisandre is wonderful, but I do have to admit, the way I used her she was more an evade tank with incidental offense, rarely getting much out of Meteor Strike but being able to immediately destroy high evasion Scouts. Scarlett's excellent because Innocent Ray removes debuffs from the entire enemy team. Rosalinde did alright, I don't consider her damage output to be peak, but she's definitely great at offense once she gets Elemental Impetus. Nina's hilarious. Sapphire Pentant + Enrage into Assaulting Blow to regain AP every KO. Phenomenal work, girl.

Virginia/Fran, Kitra/Leah/Miriam This team was structured because Knights of the Rose with the descendant and her wife, Leah. The team was always pretty damn strong, though occasionally they'd meet something that would push their entire shit in. I couldn't really tell you why. Fran focused on direct offense rather than Fatal Dive, so great on cavs but otherwise alright. Kitra is Nina again. Leah aimed more for offense, but to be direct, I think she's outright worse off than Melisandre. Evade tanking with Swordmasters doesn't go so well long-term, and offensively, Meteor Strike leaves a lot to be desired, being 2AP and easily Guarded by heavy shields. Their high Initiative works against them, as armors are almost always able to jump in. I have some ideas for Playthrough 2 to test getting them more offensively motivated, but we'll see how it goes. Miriam as a holy knight feels...fine. I admit, I don't think too highly of Holy Knight, I like the magic negation but on a rounded tank like Virginia, it's unnecessary.

Railanor/Ithilion, Eltolinde/Gammel/Galadmir Eltolinde team. Eltolinde herself is very comparable to Rosalinde, having the Elemental Impetus into heavy offense, so I like her setup a lot. I opted for both Fencers due to their regaining 1AP on a successful dodge, and paired them with Gammel, who can spread Blind to a whole row. Galadmir is just some extra damage output and potential freeze to slow down the enemy offensive, because this team is ridiculously frail.

Celeste/Liza/Yunifi, Tatiana/Lhinalagos Second only to Alain. Celeste went for Fatal Dive, which came together excellently once we acquire the Ervelda's Talisman. Column-wide true damage that can't be guarded, uses unique items that most others have significantly less use for, she's great. Liza was excellent the moment she dropped, Sharpshooter might be my favorite underrated class. High shielding, healing, solid damage output; like her stuff a lot. Yunifi was high-risk high-reward. Counterattack focused, hitting three enemies for full damage whenever she dodges or takes a hit. Tatiana had the staff to grant Overheal, pushing Celeste's damage even higher up. Lhinalagos was nice magical damage, and had Ice Arrow to set up a powerful Yunifi follow-up.

Ochlys/Fodoquia/Raenys, Sharon/Auch Ochlys' life is funny. Comes in amazing as a pre-promote, falls off around mid-game when her stats and extra AP/PP aren't as impressive anymore, then comes back doing pretty alright by endgame. I don't think she's excellent, but I like her. Raenys is ridiculous. Her ability to just shred enemy PP is staggering. Fodoquia is all nonsense, outright reflecting magic back at opponents. Sharon is the healer because come on, while Auch...kinda showed up on this team early game to easily manage the first Galarius fight, and just never left. He kept being useful.

Hodrick/Monica, Chloe/Ridiel/Berenice Hodrick and Monica are fantastic. Heavy shield defense, and the ability to negate an entire magical attack thrown at his whopping 1 Mag Def. Chloe showed up on this team early, thanks to her ability to heal Hodrick and keep him tanking early game, and just never left. Ridiel was added for magic damage and because Chloe/Ridiel is good, while Berenice is the persistent physical offense with...I can't remember the name of the skill, but similar to Nina is gives +1AP on a KO.

Hilda/Jerome/Lex, Yahna/Primm A little slapped together, but it works. Hilda has Fire Breath supplemented by an Ice and Freeze effect from Yahna, inflicting two good status conditions on a row. Yahna herself casts Trinity Rain, and Primm has Quick Impetus to get her firing immediately. Lex specifically prevents Hilda from getting bopped by anything, and has the shield that grants max initiate for whoever he's covering, which is usually Hilda or Yahna. Jerome's around. I can't really say much about him, he's fine.

Clive/Adel/Renault, Gilbert/Aramis Cav Charge. Clive, Adel, and Renault all have Cavalry Call as a stackable buff, and then just blitz enemy columns, or regain AP constantly with their variation on what Nina does. Gilbert is excellent for applying Initiative for the team, and then even more attack boosting. Aramis was chosen because I was doing rapport stuff with Gilbert, but if I were to make a switch, it would be to Sanatio. I think the cavs, rather uniquely, would love the Endure effect. They're a hit and miss kind of comp, where the miss usually means the entire front row getting decimated. Sanatio would easily prevent them from taking all that much, thanks to the block to an clean KO.

Berengeria/Gloucester/Travis, Mandrin/Selvie This team never took off. I blame that partially on mobility, resulting in their level falling behind the curve and just never catching up. The rest is that I think some of these components are a problem. Berengeria herself is excellent, but really wants the opponent to have some kind of detrimental condition. Travis was set to be that condition, with row-wide Blind. Gloucester can also Burn a whole row and has good offensive pressure. The problem is really in the back row. Mandrin offered nothing of particular interest to the team, just kind of existing, while Selvie can debuff but isn't really doing anything novel. Like, Travis doing his job means the offense debuffs aren't necessary, and Selvie is competing openly with Beregeria for a good on-entry skill. I might split them up next run.

General Impressions You may notice, no Bestrals. That's because by that phase of the game I was super stuck on my current teams and just wanted to progress, stopping only for some favorites and tests that I felt important. As a result...I literally don't know what they do. I intend to fix that on round 2, their actual skills didn't seem too influenced by this whole day/night cycle thing. In particular, Ramona sounds ridiculously good. Flying means evasion, and evasive healers are great, but having one that also supplies good PP control is divine.

I really like how most of these teams came out. There are a few I felt were a bit low-effort, but it wasn't enough to make them detrimental. I'd like to experiment a bit more with alternate combinations, and focus on different strengths. Some major goals are: making Meteor Strike Melisandre a damage focus of a team (the plan is Aubin's War Horn), testing out Bestrals generally, actually playing with more staff effects, and getting a team that actually uses Selvie that I'm happy with. I like debuffs! I should like this class, but everywhere I put her I just felt it wasn't that great! I don't know what happened, I know they can be devastating, I've faced them!

I'll be picking up Round 2 shortly. Want to catch up on Dungeon Meshi and Frieren with my wife, but will likely start a new playthrough tomorrow morning. I might try a harder difficulty. Normal was fairly simple to clear, and I don't really know what changes with difficulty selection, but it might put a bit more pressure on my comps. I'd at least like to try.

[pandp-author]

Opinion time!

I'd go as far as to say that Nina is the cutest girl on the entire game thanks to her adorable ponytail! I've mentioned this before, but she follows the trend of giving petit girls axes/the heaviest weapon across multiple games. I know this type of contrast isn't that uncommon or original, but I think it was worth pointing out how many of these we were getting lately. Warriors/Breakers... were there, I guess. Don't get me wrong, they had a role to fulfill on the team and they did it well, but outside of that they were kind of mediocre, I was not impressed with their defenses. That being said, 'Enrage' was a nice ability to had, and it wasn't hard to reduce Warrior's initiative to make the most out of their boost in power and especially accuracy.

Yahna is actually one of my favorite characters of the game, and I was not at all bothered by her attire (though I'll admit that her promoted outfit blows the other out of the water) I do find the forced comparison between her and Alcina to be quite annoying, as it is done mostly for Alcina's sake, but that doesn't take away from Yahna (for me, anyway) My problem with the Witch class in general was that I realized too late I was stretching her too thin. Not only that, I went out of my way to not recruit generics even though it would've been nice to have different witches on specialized roles. Her Valor skills are indeed nice, and they were the key to the victory against Alcina, but beyond that... I didn't use them much. I need to make a second playthrough.

I don't have much to say about Auch despite the fact that he was necessary on my playthrough as practically my only source of magic attacks, his "mom" stick was getting old quite fast, and I had to wonder if it was amped up on the lolcalization. Another failure of my for not hiring generics.

Selvie and Shamans in general are a must for almost any team, support units by and large are, but shamans especially! Their only real issue is that you have to protect them, as they don't have their own ways to attack, as you said. Truly queen makers, but never queens themselves. Selvie herself is likeable (I really don't have much to say about most units because I only played the game once and there is so many of them, so barring the likes of main characters, from Alain to Clive, I'd say Fran is my favorite character of the game, but we'll get to her)

Altogether, I loved the Knights of the Rose (I wish the Ashen Blue had something similar like that)

Miriam was an excellent support unit. Her class is the best counter to magic before you get the feather shields at the end game, which is a great support with Hoplites. Miriam herself is likeable (and more than a few times I called her Marianne, but to be frank, Marianne would absolutely be a Radiant Knight in UO) Almost everything I said about Nina can be said about Kitra, and like Miriam, Kitra is likeable enough. One problem about keeping the trio together is that I have a hard time trying to describe what I like about them individually, especially with only one playthrough, especially when they go so well together, as units and as characters within the story, so maybe that's not such a bad thing, but I still want to play the game again, of course.

Finally, the Best for last, BEST GIRL FRAN!

Gryphon Knights are amazing on this game. I am not exagerating when I call them the best class of the game, or at the very least a strong candidate for the title. As with any strategy rpg, movement is king, or Queen on this case. Their Valor skill along is amazing in any map. For the mere cost of 1 valor point, you can buff the travelling speed of entire squads for a significant amount of time. It's a good strategy to start the map as fast as you can, made doubly better by the fact that Unicorn Overlord's missions run on real time, capture an enemy post, and summon your other squats from there. And as for their actual combat, these girls are beasts! They DESTROY horses, and they do spread damage rather than single target one! They're supposed to be counter by archers but all you have to do is slap a fighter with them and they're as good as gold, they practically have no weakness (granted, besides archer being specifically designed to counter Gryphons (and thieves) Gryphons don't have much defense to begin with, but this is balanced by their natural high evasion) and this is further amplified when you promote them, where they DODGE AND GAIN ANOTHER ACTION POINT. Balance is not on any of these girls' vocabulary, and I love them for it. This is far cry from Hoplites who have counters from the magical AND physical side like... what's the point?!

As a sidenote, I appreciate VW for making the GK the axe wielding units and the Wyvern Knights the Lance wielding units. I'm certain it was a deliberate choice to differentiate their Gryphon and Wyverns from the ones on Fire Emblem, as Wyverns in FE are more commonly associated with axes instead.

Fran is a sweetheart. I love her, I love her class, I love her dynamic with her fellow Knights of the Rose. Her devotion to her sisters in arms is commendable.

Artbook stuff : more dev notes, this time about Nina, the mages and the knights of the rose!

Nina is introduced before Kitra, but I suppose Kitra was designed first as the "tiny girl with huge hammer" trope or "romanticism", so Nina followed.

I don't have a lot of thoughts about Nina since I always bench her quite fast, but fwiw, it's really nice to see how her ponytail sways with her movements, VW really put a lot of care in their animated sprites, and I can't help but compare with modern IPs who love their shitty 3D and I'm like... yeah.

Sprite work is VW's bread and butter, and it shows!

Yahna... Well, fwiw, in my first run I wasn't fond of her because I was introduced to her during the Alcina map and, well :/

AU where she had body armor - but the art looked meh so she removed some clothes. FWIW, in her progression she always wears more clothes, like she starts with nothing, then wears a dress, and in the artbook's cover her dress looks like stripperific than this one, which is, uh, a progression?

She betrays her ages at times in cutscenes (the stone tablets subquest!) and in rapport convos, which is fun to think about (basically her Hodrick and Joseph's supports) but the Alcina parallels in her Alain rapport convo... ugh.

Utility wise, much like in FE, Warp is busted, and her Gravity spell manages to control the map so..., I've never benched her at all lol.

Auch is a more traditional mage, when Yahna's class is actually more support oriented, in my actual run he stole Reimann's staff and equiped the accessory to counter at melee range, it's not a super sound strategic team, but damn that's fun.

His "wants to please my mother" thing only appeared in his rapport convos, and he was working for Zenoira so... bar the memes, I wonder what is basically his story, where they Cornian mages who jumped wagon with the Zenoiran invaders, or what?

He still makes the Mordon map winnable, so he's nice (and actually the second magic user we get!)

Selvie's actually quite tall in with the character heights revealed, and VW really outdid themselves with her various poses and crouching she does to cast magic (and the Selvie Kick (tm) ). I don't have a lot to say about her character (nerd with a kind heart when she talks about anything else than her research trope) but as the only named shaman unit...

She can't attack at all, but her debuffs are basically making a team survive or kill enemies, or not so yep, much like Yahna, she was never benched lol.

The Knights of the Rose's Team Mom, Miriam!

Acts as the leader of the group (or their caretaker), she indeed has a serious personality, watching over the members of their group and, when she joins, Virginia - even if, serious or not, she's also perfectly willing to participate in Virginia's suicide charge to take revenge for their fallen comrades.

IDK much about some "cuteness" but I'd say she has her own insecurities, complaining to Frau (not Kitra!) that seeing her and Virginia fight, she feels like she'll never be as good as them, or having the pressure to live up to her father's expectations. For a character who doesn't have a lot of lines and is part of a group, Miriam's fine as character, not specially a fave, but fine nontheless.

Fran! (@pandp-author fave!)

Dev notes are centered on her maiden ceremony, where we can see her stand without riding her griffin!

But indeed, mobility is her class's greatest advantage compared to other flying units, and in a game like UO with real-time elements mobility is really key to cheese maps!

Fran is also the only griffin rider in game with, uh, a modified bust size so she doesn't jiggle like the other ones, which is always a bonus point. Character wise, Fran is someone who worries about her comrades (hell in her ending, she gives up a leading position to remain with her friends on the battlefield?) but is also the one who's the proudest to be part of the Knights of the Rose : she's not a squire anymore who needs to be protected, she's a knight who can protect now.

Kitra here!

She got a Supreme forehead to give a "lively impression", but she first and foremost was designed with a hammer to join when Mordon wouldn't be available (if Alain picked the "kill him" choice?). Yeah, Google Trad failed here, there's no convo about "intimacy" with Mordon lol, but more like she's his apprentice and later learns how to repairstuff (to become a stonemason herself?).

She's "carefree" and brash, prone to get into trouble but her "dexterity" is both shown in how she repairs bridges and, in her Sharon rapport, smashes chicken to make them cross a river (without killing them, idk how this works).

Hammer people are really fun units, I prefer Mordon based on design alone, but Kitra's character - both as a member of the Knights of the Rose and outside of her group of friends - is fine enough, much like her fellow knights, with a small emphasis on being a sort of comic relief.

[princessofgayskull]

🌻

[croy-on-a-working-vacation]

Croyalists, check this out!!!!! In Ordinary Adventures’ new vlog, Peter and Kitra went exploring Galaxy’s Edge West and found the first FO officer who had something nice to say about Croy 😆🥲

I had to capture this momentous occasion. Also umm apologies if I spelled Lieutenant Tesk’s name wrong. I’m just playing it by ear and that’s the way I heard it 😬

Side note: is anyone else a little jealous that GE West gets all the new stuff? Yes, we have the Halcyon, but Docking Day 7’s menu never seems to change over here in GE East.

[kitra-futterman]

Why I am a Christian

This has to do with my testimony but I’ll keep it short.

Growing up I had no friends; In elementary school no one really talked to me and I was called creepy, in middle school I was pushed out of a friend group and when I finally found one that all of us were rejects from other friend groups- we self destructed the next year. In high school I only had real friends in senior year and after school we only talked once. I am use to being alone when it comes to friends.

Little did I know in my home life my family hated me too. All my siblings were pitted against me by my mother because she would constantly compare how ‘perfect’ I was to them. They all resented me- they’ve tried to k*ll me and have attacked me before as my mom watched annoyed. I always thought they were joking, but the more I think back the more I realize probably not (considering two of my siblings literally tried to drown me lol). My mom emotionally and mentally manipulated/abused me in small ways (i.e: Not considering my feelings, hardly keeping her promises, ect). I honestly couldn’t tell you much that she did due to the fact I hardly remember my own childhood (recently learned that that is a sign of trauma oop-). I remember me begging her to thank me for putting away the milk and she told I was stupid for asking for such a thing and she would in small ways tell me how my thoughts, words and feelings didn’t matter. My dad on the other hand was out of my life for at least 65% because he had to go to work.

I never realized how alone I was. I always figured it had to do with my twin dying so I pushed it off because I was told I had high expectations from friends and was trying to fill the hole in my heart from losing her to cancer with other people. Eventually I did find a way to hide away from all the loneliness and lack of self worth I felt. I did it through escapism. When I was young my parents did a great job at teaching us the affects of dr*gs and drinking so I never even thought of those but escapism was something no one could stop me from doing. I would disappear into worlds created by others; Warrior, InkHeart, Xmen, ect. Any story I read I put myself into as the hero who everyone liked. I feel in love and lived with them almost every moment of everyday. Eventually I made my own worlds and lived happily there, sometimes writing them.

I grew up in a Christian home but I truly became a Christian in middle school. I remember my dad really wanted us to play DnD with him but I told him I didn’t like it and he was upset for three days until I apologized to him. (He isn’t that petty anymore) I made a mental sort of promise to make it up to him by getting more into Christianity. I wanted to be able to talk to him about something so Christianity it was. I studied it for years and did actually grow closer to my dad- but it was definitely living through his faith. If he had died I don’t know if I would have been a Christian at all.

At this point my parents had divorced and one of my sisters was actually my best friend. I had learned that my dad and sister actually loved me and they still go out of their way to prove it everyday.

The day I believe I finally decided to be a Christian was the day I asked my dad “Why does it matter Jesus died?”. The day I asked him that he went through such an emotional that I’ve still never seen him express again (he is a rather ‘emotional’ man). He practically screamed at me with tears streaming down his face as if I had stabbed him that “If I didn’t understand the love God had given me (he meant himself and myself), then why are you a Christian?! God has given me (himself) all the love and compassion and kept me alive for this long.” I’ve never seen my father personally upset with me before this, and this is probably the closest I’ve ever gotten to disappointing him. I left that conversation confused and ashamed, and I asked God to show me what my dad meant.

So, now I understand what my father meant. Here is why I am a Christian:

God is always with me. God has never, ever found me annoying in anyway. He genuinely loves me for who I truly am- not who I appear to be to make him happy. Jesus sees how disgusting I am, how I’m a liar, no good piece of trash who deserves to die yet he despite all of that he wants me around. Me, Kitra Futterman. Even though I have nothing to give, even though I am never enough, even though I hate so much- He choose me personally to be alive not only because he thought the world needed a Kitra Futterman but because he specifically wanted a Kitra Futterman in the world and in heaven and New Jerusalem with him. He wants to talk to me and likes how I think. He likes me and respects me and cares for me.

Honestly I could go on forever about this but I’ll stop for now. All I ask is that you think about how this is true for you too, the part about God loving you not the part about the killer siblings and abusive mom, the part that Jesus died for you by name because he said you were enough.

[theo-winterwood]

Downloaded Kitra to try it out on a whim. It’s been years since the very very brief window of time when I was just barely starting to learn to use a tablet, but I scanned in a random piece of lineart I had lying around and decided to give it a go and figure it out as I went. I gotta say, I’m happier with the result than I had expected to be.

Anyway, this is Guðbrandur Hjalmarsson, a halfling barbarian. He was an idea I had for a few days once maybe ten months ago, just long enough to do an unfinished pen outline of a drawing.

[stargazer31]

It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday

Chapter 7:

She sat there staring at the computer screen. There he was. Her husband. Jake McKenzie. She scrolled through the pictures he has posted. There were ones of him and Diego and a blue man. There were ones of him and Raj. Him and Sean. There were pictures of him with everyone. Everyone, but her. Why?

She stood and went to the kitchen. She needed a glass of wine for what she was about to do. What did she say to him? Where did she begin? She didn’t remember anything about him other than what Diego told her. He was a pilot when they met on the island. He still was a pilot, though he did it mostly for recreational purposes these days.

She poured as much as she could in the glass before sitting back on the couch. She opened the messenger icon and typed in his name. It said they weren’t friends but it still allowed her to type her message.

Hi

I think we should met. There are a lot of questions and I believe you can answer them. Diego said a lot of things and I find it hard to believe that all of those things happened in that time. I need to understand. I understand that we were handfasted. You have to understand that I don’t remember any of that. I’ll understand if it is too hard for you because I’m not the girl you remember, the girl you go to know on that island. To be honest, I don’t know if I will ever be that girl on the island. Just let me know.

She sent it.

Jake was staring at the television absently. She had disappeared from his life, from his dreams. He had tried to recall her but her last words kept haunting him. She was waiting for him to find her. But he had tried. He frequented the last place he saw her. And waited, hoping that she would pass him by. But she never came. 

She was an illusion. He questioned even if she has been in that restaurant and it wasn’t just Vaanu playing a trick on them. But Diego had been certain. He stated he knew it was her. But she didn’t know him.

His computer dinged and he turned to the message. There she was. As plain as day. He read the message and frowned. She wanted to meet. She had questions and she thought he had the answers. But she warned him that she wasn’t the same woman that he had met on the island. She doubted that she would become that woman. He didn’t care. She was there and she was reaching out.

He pulled the laptop into his lap and though about what to say.

Hi.

I’m open to meeting. I figure that most of your questions are about what happened on that island. Between us. And during the handfasting ceremony. I can answer those. I can try to answer anything else you may have. I don’t know what more to do. As far as you being that girl I met on the island, I’m pretty sure she’s still there.

Kitra chuckled. She typed back,

There is a bar on 9th. An underground place that seems to be your type of place. I’ll be there Friday at 9.

Jake smiled. 

Tell me something, Princess. If you don’t know me, how can you be so sure that this would be my type of place? See, she’s in there somewhere. I’ll be there.

Friday

She stood at her closet staring at all the clothes hanging there. Somehow none of them seemed to fit the moment. She wanted to impress him without looking like she was trying too hard. She couldn’t do a dress. That definitely would look like she was trying too hard. She grabbed a pair of jeans and hunted around for a shirt. 

Her dark blue jeans were ripped in all the right spots, exposing just the right amount of thigh. Her red tank draped low on her hips. She slipped on a black blazer and looked around for her shoes. She grabbed a pair of black heeled boots. From what she remembered of seeing Jake in the restaurant, he was far taller than her.

She walked outside and hailed a taxi. It was time to get to know her husband. 

Jake stood outside the bar. He had arrived early, hoping that he got there before her. He looked around, finding her exiting a taxi. She looked up and saw him . She smiled, a welcoming smile. One he remembered. He returned it with own lopsided grin. He raked a had through his hair and took a deep breath. She stopped in front of him and extended her hand.

“Jake McKenzie, I’m Kitra Romero. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He took her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. And Jake is just fine. Because I’m going to call you Kit. I prefer Princess. But ---”

“You called me Princess?”

It was familiar to hear. She didn’t know why. But it was a comfort to her. She realized he was speaking and said, “I’m sorry. I was having a sort of flashback. A sense of deja vu.”

He perked up. “Did you remember something?”

“Not exactly. Let’s go get that drink.”

[rosiecooperproject4]

DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHERS

SIMON HAYTER 

How did they achieve the photograph? What camera techniques did they use?

They achieved this image by making it seem effortless and the man is looking directly into the camera. They exposed the image a lot to maybe give it a more joyful atmosphere.

What is being documented?

This photography is about the Independence of Cuba and how there is no trade between America and Cuba, this means that it stops the development of the country and it has no new products made by other countries.  

What is the context of the image?

The undeveloped Cuba however they are still living well in a country which doesn't need mass trade to thrive.

What is being communicated and how is it communicated?

With the man looking straight into the camera I believe the image becomes a lot more personal because it shows almost the strength of the man, I feel this portrays the strength of the country.

How does it make you feel? Is it intentional? Or does it make the image work better?

The picture makes me feel incredible gratitude to Cuba because it shows that it can still live without the modernisation of most countries.

ARTHUR LUMEN

How did they achieve the photograph? What camera techniques did they use?

They simple took the photo of this which has been cracked through the centre of the room which perfectly aligns with the image of the woman.

What is being documented?

This image shows the damage of the landslides in Armenia and how it can bring pain but also show beauty and luck when disasters like these happen. It also shows the destruction it can make but also how people have learned to deal with them.

What is the context of the image?

The caption of this image is ‘Starting from 1985 the landslides started in this village named Voghjaberd. Figaro’s wife in the picture.’ I

What is being communicated and how is it communicated?

This image communicates that these homes are being destroyed with sentimental pieces such as the image of the man’s wife which could of easily being affected by the landslide because it is so central with the broken crack in the wall.

How does it make you feeI? Is it intentional? Or does it make the image work better?

It makes me feel quite emotional because you don’t know what has happened after the image and whether the landslide affected them anymore after this.

ADAM FERGUSON

How did they achieve the photograph? What camera techniques did they use?

They shot this through a window to make it seem like its been double exposed but in fact it is just the reflection. It makes the image seem a lot more intricate than just the reflection of the window which I appreciate. 

What is being documented?

The caption for the image is “Afghan money changers do business in the Sarai Shahzada Money Market in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 10, 2011. Millions of dollars in different currencies changes hands in the market daily.”

What is the context of the image?

It shows the exchanging of money and it basically explains in the caption what its trying to convey.

What is being communicated and how is it communicated?

I feel like its trying to communicate the hierarchy of money because there are many different personalities in the image which shows a lot of powerful people and then the complete opposite. Some of the people here are clearly begging and distraught about their experiences.

How does it make you feel? Is it intentional? Or does it make the image work better?

The picture is very distressing because there are some men in this picture which seem so non-chalant even though there are people ‘surrendering’ themselves it seems.

MARTIN PARR

How did they achieve the photograph? What camera techniques did they use?

He just took the picture which would of just happened in the moment because it is documentary photography and it isn't a pre meditated image.

What is being documented?

A man going to the toilet in a very exposed urinal.

What is the context of the image?

The context is that Martin Parr went around Manchester going to many different places and seeing all the diversity in everyday places.

What is being communicated and how is it communicated?

The image doesn't really show much about what Martin Parr is trying to communicate but I believe that it has a vulnerability to these ‘strong men’ which are seen in the football community.

How does it make you feel? Is it intentional? Or does it make the image work better?

I feel like the image seems intentional but also random at the same time because this man would of just gone to the toilet not expecting someone to take a picture.

JEAN GAUMY

How did they achieve the photograph? What camera techniques did they use?

He achieved this image by taking it from a lower angle and putting it into black and white.

What is being documented?

The caption is “IRAN. Tehran. 1986. Veiled women practice shooting on the outskirts of the city.”

What is the context of the image?

I believe that he went to Iran and documented all the war which was happening and him trying to portray it in very vulnerable way however these women seem to be the most powerful personalities in the whole series.

What is being communicated and how is it communicated?

It’s trying to show the power which women have even though they are told to be covered. In the documentary all the men in the images seem to be begging and shy maybe because it is showing that the war can affect everyone.

How does it make you feel? Is it intentional? Or does it make the image work better?

It’s a very powerful image because it shows that everyone can handle a gun and use it well which can be fearful but also empowering to women that were told that they couldn't do things that only men could do.

KITRA CAHANA

How did they achieve the photograph? What camera techniques did they use?

They took it from a high angle which I believe makes the picture seem full of depth.

What is being documented?

The documentary series doesn't have any information about it but I assume that it is about people who are travelling the world and finding anywhere to keep shelter.

What is the context of the image?

There’s a lot of images with people who are dirty and sometimes unhappy but I feel like these people are so happy with their lives because they have nothing to be secure to. This shows the importance of living life.

What is being communicated and how is it communicated?

In this image it communicates the not knowing of where they're going to sleep at night but also I feel like that isn't what they are worried about because they are living a stress free life.

How does it make you feel? Is it intentional? Or does it make the image work better?

The image is intentional I believe because it shows vulnerability.

RICHARD KALVAR

How did they achieve the photograph? What camera techniques did they use?

They used either black and white film or edited it black and white. They made random elements go together in the weirdest way but somehow they all work. 

What is being documented?

The caption for this mage is quite vague in saying ‘ USA. New York. Foot, ice cream popsicle and guitar on West 3rd street. 1970.’

What is the context of the image?

There isn’t any context really but I assume that it all was just in the moment and happened to come out with a non-nonchalant atmosphere about the tragedy which has more than likely happened.

What is being communicated and how is it communicated?

I believe that the image is of a person which has been seriously injured but no one is really bothered or paying any attention to what has happened and they are just carrying on with their lives. When I think this was made it showed that people weren’t as nosey as society today because when injuries happen everyone wants to know the business of something awful, we thrive of knowing.

How does it make you feel? Is it intentional? Or does it make the image work better?

I feel like this image is very intentional because he realised that all these things went together in the oddest way possible.

CAROLYN DRAKE

How did they achieve the photograph? What camera techniques did they use?

They simple took the photo of a boy which has fallen asleep in what looks like it could be either a library or work. 

What is being documented?

This documentary is how this remote province was divided in conflict after a riot which separated many villagers. I feel like this boy represents the tired energy from the province.

What is the context of the image?

There is no description for this exact image but it explains for the series the separation from the two kinds of people who lived in this village.

What is being communicated and how is it communicated?

I feel like its trying to communicate the restlessness of this place because its an ongoing struggle having to have face the conflict which should of never happened. Or maybe this shows the aftermath of the riot and how the whole village were badly affected and now they are exhausted.

How does it make you feel? Is it intentional? Or does it make the image work better?

It feels intentional but it some ways its hard to find its relevance within the documentary series however he did say every landscape was different every place he saw. I feel this relates because you don’t see many buildings like this anymore and it was captures in 2009.

FRANCESCO ZIZOLA

How did they achieve the photograph? What camera techniques did they use?

They men are being surrounded by these plants with machetes.

What is being documented?

There is almost no context on this image which I feel then becomes a point of interpreting it any way your imagination lets you.

What is the context of the image?

When I see this image I believe that it could either be that these men are dangerous and seen as a threat where they live or that they are tending to the crops that they are stood in. I think that this is a very good way of capturing an image because it is mysterious.

What is being communicated and how is it communicated?

Personal. It seems like that one man is staring at you for a purpose almost like an intimidation energy.

How does it make you feel? Is it intentional? Or does it make the image work better?

It works so well together because one of the men seem quite timid even though he is holding a big machete. It seems like the front man is the leader and teaching all of these people how to act. 

MIKE BRODIE

How did they achieve the photograph? What camera techniques did they use?

The photographer would be in the next carriage to these people and got the image of him overlooking into the next carriage.

What is being documented?

I think whats being documented is people finding anyway of free transport  to get around so that they can live and travel.

What is the context of the image?

There is no context of the image but I think that again its about getting around for free with no worries. To counteract that is might also show a lot of worry because nothing is certain in their lives.

What is being communicated and how is it communicated?

The same as the other questions really.

How does it make you feel? Is it intentional? Or does it make the image work better?

This is 100% intentional because it shows the different subcultures of the world.

[jellyfishrowan]

Batch update! 💞First off, went to #comiccon with my #girlfriend because #goals . 📷Guelph with my #film #camera in the #vinyl #record store I found a police #cassette #cassettetape . 💻Recently got 500 of my #businesscards printed. Very thankful for everyone's input! 💲to #commemorate making $500 from #art last year, I made myself a #bracelet ... out of the #money I made! 🔥💦lastly, and the reason I have been so slow to post, I got a full time job at kitras glass in fergus. http://ift.tt/2oatJqG

[princessofgayskull]

somehow I’ll still love you more (kitra fic sneak peak)

so this is a scene from my upcoming fic somehow I’ll still love you more, which at is core is going to be a kitra/baby fic. However, there’s a lot I want to say about this (you know me, can’t keep that word count down) so this fic will be nothing if not a full course meal.

The fic is told in a nonlinear fashion. This particular scene I wanted to share with you guys because I believe it touches on a lot of what the fic is going to be about. It’s set between the episodes White Out and Light Spinner in Season 2. Enjoy! (this has not been beta’d yet)

“Scorpia,”

“Hmm- huh?”

“Stop doing that.”

“Stop doing what?”

Pulling up the hand brake, Catra stopped the speeder in its tracks before whirling around, her left eye twitching like the movement was the only thing keeping her eyeball in place. “That- that thing you’re doing with your mouth. That noise you’re making under your breath.”

“Singing?” Scorpia raised an eyebrow. 

“You call that singing?” Catra scoffed at her inferior. Look, Catra got that growing up in the Horde meant there weren’t any private music lessons (even if that was in Shadow Weaver’s job description she’d just relegate that responsibility off to some tone deaf Force Captain so she’d have more time to make Catra’s life a living hell and dote on Adora on the side) that all those half-witted princesses definitely got growing up, but it was like Scorpia was trying for the same sound her pincers made when she dragged them down slabs of concrete. 

Catra’s hand squeezed the brake handle until the pressure hurt the bones in her hand, her left eye still twitching. It was like Scorpia was trying to tank Catra’s recent promotion as Hordak’s second in command by being as annoying as she could on purpose. But who wasn’t trying to derail all of Catra’s hard earned progress these days?

“Oh um, I could stop. If you want.” Scorpia muttered, her face falling into an expression that gave Catra the urge to both scream, puke, cry, and beg for forgiveness at the same time. And lately, every action, every word, every little breath that any took in her direct vicinity set off a domino effect of violent emotions in Catra, every single one too enormous and too consuming for her body. 

Good thing Catra didn’t have time for any of that. 

“Just-” Catra’s breath faltered when Scorpia refused to look at her (what? Now she was the bad guy just because she needed focus or Hordak would have her sent to Beast Island? Or worse?!), “- just don’t do it right now, okay?”

This earned Catra an enthusiastic nod, and she was too fucking tired to do anything but figure that was going to have to do, given the time crunch, and not mention, the insane amount of pressure she was running under. Clicking the brake, Catra pushed the handle down, fucking ecstatic to be driving the speeder the rest of the way in peace and quiet. Finally. Scorpia didn’t say another word, didn’t make another noise, until Catra was pulling up to the edge of Dawn’s Pass and activating the brake again.

That was good enough for Catra.

Just as Catra moved up to the edge to take a watchful stance of the town, Scorpia opened her big mouth. “Uh, boss? Not that I don’t love these recon missions with you lately, but I gotta ask: why are we staking out this village again? The Horde’s occupied this place for the last twelve years, and this isn’t exactly what I pictured when you said we were going to start hanging out over work? I mean, unless Dawn’s Pass has a mean bowling alley. Does- does it?”

“No,” Catra’s tail twitched in irritation. 

“Oh.” 

A cadet, waving his baton in a steady motions, stood at the broad brick wall that blocked off the town as his shift replacement approached from the west, whistling a tune through their helmet so ear shattering it put Scorpia’s new little song to shame. Keeping her eyes trained on the two of them, Catra braced herself for the metallic scent of magic to hit her nose. There was the quick swish of her claws unsheathing, and then, a pregnant silence. 

If they’re going to strike, Sparkles and Rainbow and- and Adora, or any of the other dopey Princesses- are going to strike now.

But Catra watched unfold was a typical exchange between Horde Cadets: a simple salute, a complaint about standing for ten hours, and a wish for good luck during the dull, boring night shift. No Princesses. No magic. No threats anywhere in sight.

Nothing. Just like Dawn’s Pass went from being a primary target to just another boring occupied village and Catra’s paranoia had wasted another night. Grimacing, her claws digging into her forehead, Catra actually found herself hoping Hordak would be too busy wasting pleasantry on the Princess who sat at (or on it, literally, because Entrapta just thought she was the shit and that she could waltz into any room) his throne to speak with her tonight. Her lengthy string of failures was getting harder and harder to choke her way through excusing.

“So um,” Scorpia started up again, sending Catra’s ears laying flat up against her head. She exhaled a hot and irritated sigh, but the Horde’s hostage/princess stayed true to her inability to take a fucking hint, “when you said we were going to start hanging out after we came back with all that tech from the the Northern Reach, I just- I just didn’t picture us, you know patrolling.”

An angry pulse ran up Catra’s back at the mention of their tech victory- Entrapta’s tech victory- back in that shitty winter wasteland she almost froze her tail off in. “Scorpia,” her voice was thin, “I told you a thousand times, I don’t have time. Just take what you’re given and try not to complain.”

Wow, did she just sound like Shadow Weaver right then. Whatever, Catra turned her head away from Scorpia, in no mood to deal with the fallout of seeing her sort-of-friend’s expression, maybe the Old Crone was right about some things in the end.

“Can I ask why we’re here? Like here, here? What makes a place with no bowling alley so interesting?” The second Scorpia let up, Catra let her forehead hit the rim of the speeder and didn’t even blink at the ringing pain. Ugh, Scorpia just never gave up. How many times did Catra have to ask for some damn silence so she could think? 

Running her claws down her face- again- Catra grunted, “Dawn’s Pass can’t fall into the hands’ of the Rebellion. If we lose it, or if they’re conspiring with the Princesses, we’re going to lose the Horde’s longest occupied village and we’ll be giving up the tactical advantage it gives us against that flower Princess’s kingdom.” And I will have another failure under my badge. If I lose another town, I can basically kiss my Force Captain badge goodbye. And maybe my life.

“Ohhhh…” Scorpia trailed off. At this point Catra was going to end up with a bitch of headache just from rolling her eyes at the other Force Captain. “Yeah, that makes sense. This’ll be fun! Patrolling the occupied territories with my bestie!”

Catra made a noise of disgust, but it wasn’t enough to stop Scorpia from pushing herself onto the front seat and almost pushing Catra out of it. Leaning the exoskeleton covered parts of her elbows onto the rim, Scorpia let out a contented sigh, her ditzy gaze trained on the town as Catra struggled- yipping and yelping to no end and scratching up the dinged up leather of the seat- to get her tail out from under the other woman’s butt. 

Do the words “personal space” just mean absolutely jackshit to her? Catra, gripping her freed tail, growled under her breath and turned away from Scorpia. The seat was practically hers now! Looks like kneeling on the floor would have to do! It’s like I’m wearing a sign on my forehead that reads “what’s mine is yours, including the air I breathe!” Ugh, of course Hordak doesn’t listen to me, nobody does! Not even Scorpia! Everyone is too busy with their own heads up their asses to see what I’m trying to accomplish, or to give me enough space to let me do it! And she wonders why I don’t wanna “hang out after work,” or whatever.

Maybe bringing Scorpia as her backup belonged up there with some of Catra’s worst ideas; not like she didn’t have a pretty impressive tab of those wracked up already. Whatever, the universe wasn’t exactly open to responding to any of Catra’s actions with anything other than another round of punishment, so it wasn’t like acting on her impulsive or emotional notions were really going to be her undoing. Not with Hordak out for her neck, her badge no longer wielding the protective force that came with having real authority. 

Catra was an idiot to think that power would’ve actually lasted her longer than a week, that now that she’d taken out Shadow Weaver and left her to her rotting self in a cell that there wouldn’t be another player on the board that could take her shield of Second in Command away from her. Well, that’s what she got for letting Entrapta into their vents. Helping them win the war or not, Horde or not, their resident techwhiz was still a Princess.

And princesses weren’t good for anything other than being annoyances that stood in Catra’s way.

“Are you seriously humming again, Scorpia?!” Catra yelped out, the volume of her voice loud enough to scare several birds from off the town’s wall. Her split eyes had been trained on the town as she crouched at the bottom of the speeder, the only entertainment the angry spiral echoing in her brain, tailing the action of a family and their wagon of sparse supplies as they approached the gate when the grating sound smacked her upside the head. The resulting intensity of her fury was almost enough to give Catra the strength to put her fist through the wall of the speeder.

Scorpia retreated into herself. “Sorry.”

Holding back a response, Catra just scoffed again and turned back to the previous subject of her attention. Watching one of the men of the family reach the gate and request entrance into his town was better than directing a full on meltdown at her inferior, kicking her out of the speeder, and forcing her to walk her way back to the Fright Zone. Catra wasn’t so far drowning her rage to something that idiotic, yet.

It was big yet. Catra knew that as she tried to shift her position, rolling her head on her shoulders and squeezing her fists, breathing only through her nostrils despite understanding that there was no sitting with an anger this encompassing. The feeling pushed and pushed and pushed at her physical walls until it was practically promising that Catra’s building fury would end one mesmerizing explosion, one that would take her, Scorpia, the family, the Horde Cadet, the entire town, all of it, out with a bang. 

Now if only Scorpia had the brains to know that when she started her singing up again.

Catra peeled her blue eye open. The sun was beginning to set, and it had bathed the surrounding forest in shades of soft pink and orange, a scene so painfully ordinary it meant they couldn’t be anywhere else other than reality. Underneath the shadow cast by the stone wall, Catra took in a breath as she watched the first man continue to negotiate his family’s entrance into their own town.

Okay, so she’d hadn’t blown them all to fiery simtheriens- not the speeder, not the wall, not the little girl watched over by another man stumbling barefoot in the grass, letting out happy babbles as she pulled out clumps of grass and started sticking them in her cloth diaper until her father got down on his knees just to get her to stop. Guess Catra could count that as victory that her emotions hadn’t ended in an explosion that ended a child, a baby. Catra figured that given the fact that each step the little girl took on those chubby little legs of hers was a leap of faith that she probably wasn’t even a year and a half old.

The other man, the one that had chosen to forgo the customary negotiation in favor of watching the little girl experiment with walking near their wagon, moved from his kneeling position to pick her up. Something about the way the villager held her with a grip firm enough to keep his child from falling, yet not with so much strength that he hurt left a series of psychosomatic bruises up and down Catra’s ribs. She watched as the man ran a hand bigger than his daughter’s entire head through her soft and downy mauve hair, careful to avoid the tiny stumps in her head that would eventually become long enough and pronounced enough to match the horns of her father’s head. Catra let out a breath she was holding just to suck in another.

“Dada!” Even from the faraway vantage of the speeder Catra’s ears still picked up on the sound of the little girl recognizing her father. Because the universe was both impartial and cruel. Right as Catra realized she had stuck one set of claws in her mouth and she was chewing on them- who was she?! Adora?! Out her biting her freaking nails ‘cause something had the nerve to make her uncomfortable?- the baby stuck her tiny, chubby little hand into her father’s bright orange beard and yanked without mercy.

Now that guy’s screams scared the rest of the birds away.

As the family’s head negotiator rushed away from the Horde Cadet to tend to his husband’s facial hair, their daughter laughing up a riot at their combined reactions, Scorpia leaned over to where Catra sat on the floor, her tail twitching back and forth. “Uh boss?” she started but Catra didn’t turn away, her hand clutched into the fabric that rested above her sternum and not on her Force Captain badge for once. “Should we do something about these guys?”

“Why? They’re not Princesses.” They’re just a normal family trying to get into the place they live, so they can take their daughter home and have a dinner together that’s not mush, and then tuck their daughter in, tell her bedtime stories, be there in the night in case she has nightmares and needs them.

The fathers joined in on their daughter’s laughter.

“Well, that is true.”

A new feeling crept up Catra’s spine, but this time around the discomfort didn’t bring to her the edge of explosion. Implosion, actually. It was the same heaviness that settled in her lungs and crawled up to her throat, a slow and destructive effective infection of Catra’s self, when Hordak shut down her ideas to let Entrapta speak. When the Princesses left a trail of glitter behind running, tripping over themselves to follow She Ra’s lead. When Shadow Weaver cupped Adora’s face and showed her with praise for the simplest fucking task. 

Yeah, Catra knew it made her the world’s biggest idiot to keep her eyes on the seemingly indifferent family and the happiness that radiated off them. She was aware of the damage she brought on herself by not turning away, the risk she ran by letting her emotions run her. So why couldn’t she look somewhere else, anywhere else?

“I can’t wait to be a mom.” Scorpia said out of nowhere. Ears flying straight up, Catra blinked before turning to gawk at her. 

“Wait, really?” A mom mom, as in a  person who takes care of and looks after her children? 

“Yeah, I mean, it’s something I’ve always wanted.” Scorpia shrugged, somehow rubbing her neck with those big pincers of hers. “Why, do you think that’s a bad idea?”

“Scorpia, we’re in the middle of a war,” and that was putting it bluntly, “Besides, Hordak doesn’t even allow fraternization between his soldiers, much less-” her sputtering stops, Catra’s brain still tripping over the word fraternization, “having a family!”

“Well, we’re not going to be at war for the rest of our lives, Catra. Once we get the rebellion to surrender, I kinda wanted to set down roots, do something other than be a Force Captain, not that I don’t love doing that. I’m sure Hordak will loosen up about the whole fraternization thing as soon as we win! I mean, you’ve seen how he was with Entrapta!”

At her words, Catra came close to all out hurling over the speeder’s edge. It was crappy enough of Scorpia to bring up how Entrapta and Hordak were getting closer every day and shoving Catra out of the position she worked her ass off for, but then she had to go and frame it like that? 

Look, Catra got that Entrapta wasn’t the most socially aware princess, but yikes. That didn’t mean she didn’t have some sort of standard.

“What about you, Catra?” Scorpia continued, “What do you- um, what do you see yourself doing after the war?”

Catra met Scorpia’s eyes, only to regret it. “I- I-” she stuttered, looking away and forcing her eyes closed. Pfft, after the war? After the war? How the hell was Catra supposed to picture an after when her entire life, her entire purpose, every goal she’d ever had, was only because there was a war to begin with? 

The Horde conquers the rest of the planet, sends the Princesses running, puts She Ra in the ground, and what, Catra was just supposed to have a plan for after that? What… what was Catra supposed to do when they did win, when the Horde pulled off everything she worked for?

Even though she was expecting to find an emptiness, a blank space, a new start for the after the war when she tried imagining it, all Catra could picture was blonde hair tied up in a tight ponytail, melodic laughter accented by brief snorts ringing in her, the bluest eyes cutting through the longing. The same longing that plagued Catra when she forced her eyes open and saw the two fathers talking to their daughter in gentle yet bright voices, explaining to her that the soldiers had processed their papers and they could go home now.

“I don’t know.” was Catra’s quiet response. 

There wasn’t any promise Hordak would keep her alive that long anyway, or if there would be anything left to live for by the time Catra got Adora down her knees and ended it all- by giving into that implosion that lived deep down in her core, letting it rip right through her and seeing to it that her love for Adora severed the universe in two, creating black hole that would suck them all in eventually- right then and there. Like it always promised to.

A part of Catra tried to push beyond that implosion, tried to picture the future Scorpia envisioned in her mind of setting down roots and birthing legacies. Was there a part of her, beyond the pain and the brokenness, that wanted what Scorpia wanted, too?

Watching that family tonight had been the only part of her mission that hadn’t felt the same as downing a vat of acid down her throat. And as hell bent as Catra was on obliterating any princess that dared to mess with this town’s occupation, there was no animosity in her heart towards that little girl.

She was kinda cute, in the mischievous, funny kind of way. And almost fun- for a baby, that is.

But when Catra closed her eyes once more to picture that little girl and her happy, innocent smile, all that was waiting for her was the image of a shriveled shadow, locked and rotting away back in the Fright Zone.  

[stargazer31]

It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday

Chapter 6:

Diego entered the restaurant looking around the room. He should recognize her. But in the sea of bodies, she seemingly vanished. Just like before. He looked at Jake and Mike and shrugged. Mike had suggested that it might be a bad idea for all of them to show up. It might confuse her and she would disappear again. But Jake wanted to be there. He had to see her. 

The hostess stepped up. “Can I help you?”

Diego smiled and said, “I’m looking for my friend. Kitra…,” he paused looking at Jake. He added, “Romero.”

“Yes, right this way. Ms. Romero said you would be joining her. Though she only said one person was coming.”

“We were headed to the bar,” Mike said. 

“Oh. Okay. The bar is to your left. It’s first come seating. Right this way, Mr. Soto.”

She led him away from Jake and Mike and towards the tables. There were a couple of booths along the back wall and there she was, pouring over something on her computer. She looked up, her lips turning up at the corner. She stood and threw her arms around Diego, embracing him for the longest. 

“Hola, Kit.”

“Hola, Diego.”

They sat down and she pushed the amaretto sour in front of him. He raised a brow and she shrugged. He took a sip and laughed. “Started early, I see.”

“I started six weeks ago.” She smiled. “You’re tan.”

“Just got back from Miami.” He motioned for the waitress to bring them another round. “It’s a trip I take yearly this time of year.”

“When did you start that?”

“After we got back from La Huerta.”

She sat back and looked away from him. “You said something on the phone about La Huerta. That I did something. I don’t remember the island. I don't remember going. I don’t remember ever leaving the campus apartments.”

“Well you did,” Jake said. The waitress sat the drinks in front of them and gave them menus. “What do you recommend?”

“Whatever gives you the courage to tell me what happened. I recommend the mussels though as an appetizer.” 

Diego smiled and said, “We’ll have that and we’ll need a few more moments for the rest of the menu.”

When the woman was gone, she sighed and said, “Well, what happened on this island?”

“Everything started out smooth until we go closer to the island. We ran into turbulence-”

“Did we wreck and I lost my memory?”

“No. Our pilot, Jake MacKenzie-”

Something turned in her stomach. She whispered his name as if it was important and should mean something to her. “Jake.”

“Yeah. He got us through the turbulence and we made it to the landing strip. Immediately we knew something was off because there was no one from the hotel to greet us. There were no other people on the island. So everyone went off to search. You stayed behind with Jake to take a look at the island from the tower.”

“I went with a complete stranger? To explore an evacuated island? Did he do something to me?”

“No. You two actually became really close. Reallyclose.”

“What? Me and the pilot?”

“Yeah. But that’s later.”

Diego proceeded to tell her as much as he could about their time on the island without giving her too much grief. She stared him incredulously as he weaved this long tale of their time on La Huerta. She casually at the food that was brought to the table until Diego brought up the handfasting ceremony.

“Handfasting? What is that?”

“That’s what the Vaanti referred to as marriage.”

“WAIT?!?! What? I got married? To the pilot? Why would I do that?”

“Because you loved him. You still do. You just don’t remember it.”

“Why?” Why would she rush into a decision of that magnitude with someone she barely knew? Something bloomed in the corner of her mind but she brushed it off. “And Michelle was my maid of honor? Sorority girl Michelle Nguyen? Pre-med Michelle Nguyen?”

“Yes.”

“And I became friends with Grace Hall, from Bio? And Craig Hsiao, the football player? And Raj Bhandarkar, the kid that high the majority of the time? And Sean Gayle? Current Patriots quarterback Sean Gayle? And Zahra Namazi? The hacker? And Quinn Kelly? The quiet redhead girl from art class?”

“Yes.”

“I became friends with Jake, the pilot. And I married him?” She took a sip of her drink. “How long were we on this island? There is no way that I would have become friends with all of those people. We’re all so different.”

“It’s those differences that make us all friends. Anyway, everyone wants to see you. But Michelle told them that it may be overwhelming to you, to have everyone come at you at once.”

She shook her head. “I don’t remember them. I’m not the same person I was on that island. I don’t remember her. I don’t even dream of that place. And I don’t remember having a husband. What would I even say to him? There is no common ground that we can come to. He married a woman who sacrificed herself for the world, so everyone can live. I’m not that person.”

“The Kitra I knew wouldn’t have been this pessimistic. The Kit I knew, the one that I know is still in there, would look at this as a blessing. It’s an opportunity to discover who you are and what you mean to everyone that loves you.”

She thought long and hard. A delicate hand moving up to move her hair. Her brows furrowed and she stared into space. Her eyes darted around the restaurant coming to stop on a pair of ice blue eyes that were staring at her from the bar. They held her attention for what seemed like an eternity. She forced herself to look away.

“The man at the bar,” she asked Diego. “Is that the pilot?”

“Yes. He wanted to come. He had to see you in person. To see if it was really you.”

She looked back at him. Her stomach did a somersault. She blinked and said, “Whisky.”

A vague memory crossed her mind of two whisky glasses clinking in a hotel room with a red and whit theme. There were a couple of knocked over lamps and a end table that was scattered around. But in an instant it was gone. She shook herself and looked at Diego.

“Did you remember something?”

“A hotel room. A canopy bed.  A view of the ocean. And two whisky glasses.”

“That was probably you guys first night together.”

“But the memory was a flash and the flash is gone.”

“You’ll get it back. I’m going to check on Jake. I’ll be right back.”

Diego got up and made his way over to Jake. He shook his head once he stood next to the man. “Sorry, but she doesn't remember you. She almost had a flash but then it was gone just like that.”

Mike nodded. “We knew it was a possibility that she wouldn’t remember. So you know what that means, Grandpa. You have to make her fall in love with you all over again.”

Diego nodded. “Maybe, you’re better off going home. For now,” he added when Jake started to protest. “And I will work on her to agreeing to meet with you.”

Jake sent a longing look at her. “I’m counting on you Pop Culture. I’m not prepared to lose her again. I can’t lose her again.”

Both men stood and walked out the door. He walked back to the table and sat down. He looked at Kit and smiled. “Whenever you’re ready, I think you should meet your husband.”

“How do I know if I would even like him? How do I know if he would even like me?”

“He already loves you. So no need to worry about that. Besides, you two already worked out once. Who says lightning doesn’t strike twice?”

[stargazer31]

It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye

Chapter 1:

He took the worn photo from his wallet, staring at the face of the only woman he had ever loved. It didn’t matter that all of them were in the photo together. He only ever saw her. Every since she sassed her way into his cockpit, his eyes were only ever for her. He turned his face to the heavens. A ray of light beamed back at him. 

“Damn you, Kitra! Why didn’t you ask me to stay? I would have resided in whatever time or space you asked me to. Why didn’t you just ask?”

“Talking to yourself again, Grandpa? Or are cursing Kitra again?” Mike slid uo next to him. “You do this every time.”

“We were married three years ago today. And she let it go. Let me go.” He was incensed and dejected at the same time. 

Mike patted him on his back. “She did what she thought was best. She gave us a chance to live productive lives. She gave herself so that we could live. She loved you enough to set you free.”

“I would’ve stayed with her. We could have had eternity together.” 

“Exactly. She knew what you would have done. But she didn’t want to keep you from your family. She knew how much you missed your sister, Becca. She couldn’t keep you from them.”

“Well, now I miss her as much as I did Becca. More so.”

“She knows.” The disc buzzed in his hand. “Our table is ready.”

“Good,” he smiled. “Because I could use a drink.”

Mike followed him into the restaurant. A pretty blond hostess escorted them to their table next to a window. She tried to get Jake’s attention, flashing smile after smile. But to no avail, the man barely looked anywhere but out the window. He didn’t even glance at the menu when he asked for his whiskey. Mike sighed. He had to do something to get his mind off the woman that haunted his dreams.

“How about we finally go to the island survivor’s meeting? It would do you some good.”

“How would that do me some good?”

“Because they’re your friends. And because we all went through something on that island,” Mike stated. “Grandpa, they’re probably all going through the same things as you are.”

“Really? Because I’m pretty sure Captain America and Maybelline are doing just fine. He plays for the Patriots now. And she is a second year at Boston University.”

“So-”

“Braintrust and Malfoy are living it up in Chicago. They have a son, Reginald.”

“you-”

“Craigslist and Skrillex took the gaming world by storm with a game modeled after the island experience. They are currently living it up in Silicon Valley.”

“have-”

“Pippi Longstocking and Jason Mraz found each other and are currently touring the world. She survived a deadly disease and he hasn’t seen the world change since World War II.”

“been-”

“Lastly, the Taco Ninja opened a very successful restaurant in Miami. Surprisingly, he doesn’t serve tacos. That just leaves the Na’vi and Pop Culture Petey. They’re looking for the island, trying to find a way to get her back.”

“keeping tabs on everyone,” Mike concluded.

Jake sat back and stared out the window. “I know where all of them are. All of them. Except for one. So I don’t need to go to the meeting.”

“Well, I’m going,” he stated, matter-of-factly. He offered, “Come if you want to.”

Jake had stopped listening to his friend, his attention focused on the woman standing across the street. His eyes were deceiving him, of course. It was just because of the day. But he saw her, just as plain as the nose on his face. It was her.

Standing across the street, beneath the swaying the oak, was the woman who promised him forever. The almond-shaped honey brown eyes focused on the crossing sign as shadows from the branches danced across her golden skin. She watched the traffic whip by her with a thoughtful expression.

He wiped his eyes. “Where is our waitress? I could used another drink. Hell, she could definitely leave the bottle.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m seeing ghosts. I could’ve sworn I just saw Kit. The same as I see you. Just my mind playing tricks on me.”

The woman walked past the window and he froze. This woman didn’t just look like her. She walked like Kitra, moved like her. No doubt about it. It was most definitely her. It should have been impossible. It was impossible. But it was her. It was his Kit.

He rose and said, “I’ll be right back.”

Mike grabbed his arm. “It’s not her, Jake. I know how bad you want it to be her. But it’s not.”

“How do you know?” Everything in him was telling him that it was Kitra.

“Think about it. If it was here, why hasn’t she tried to contact you? You’re her husband. You would have been the first person on her list. I hate to tell you this. But it’s not her.”

Jake sat down and palmed his face. He knew Mike was right. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was her. He took a deep breath to calm his erratic heartbeat. He tried to think logically, rationally. But it still felt real. She seemed real.

He looked at Mike. “Where is that meeting this year?”

“Miami. Raj is hosting it.” He sat forward. “You want to go?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “Maybe seeing her is her way of telling me to go see everyone. To stop being so withdrawn.” He raised his glass. “Here’s to Miami.”