Blood & Chlorophyll Ch. 15 - Reflection

This was a really fun chapter because of just how different it was. This book has kept an incredibly tight scope, focusing entirely on Alicia and Katrina's small worlds. Yes, Katrina saw a bit of the city at times, and they visited the Dungeon Camp once, but for some reason those feel like quick asides. Still important, mind you, but just things to get out of the way rather than integral parts of their world.

This is a big reason why I've been so excited to get more time with Tabitha. She's a bit of a loose cannon, and her unpredictability challenges our girls in interesting ways.

In the past, however, that's mostly manifested through her lewd comments and heavy handed flirtation. She thinks they're both hot, she wants to cam with Kat, things like that. However, there's a big difference between talk and action, and that's where this chapter comes in.

Tabitha is a character that, while I've always known her vibes, it took some time to figure out what makes her tick. Why does she have such a big personality? Once I figured that out, it made her place in the narrative feel much more natural, especially when I had the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

(Note: ORC guidelines recommend avoiding such language, but I couldn't think of a better phrase.)

My initial plan was for their outing to the Red Light District a single chapter, but I kinda got lost in the details a bit. Describing the town, showing how healthy the community was, and then actually getting to the District in question was a lot of fun. I absolutely adore the thought of a literal Age Gate, and I had a blast thinking of why they'd put so much effort into setting something like that up.

Personally, I'm also quite proud of the decision to put a multitude of businesses in the RLD, not just brothels and strip clubs. My favorite touch is the Tattoo Parlor that has no reason to be there other than the owner being a horny monster fucker.

Once we get inside the actual strip club, I let myself indulge in some silliness. For those of you that keep up with all of Otterly's releases (and, if not, how DARE you), he wrote a Halloween one shot set in a Chicago brothel. It was a lot of fun, and it helped flesh out the city even more than I'd already done in B&C. The main character of that one shot was a certain Jorugumo that appears here!

I absolutely adore the visual of someone who can create webbing on command using it to put together a burlesque silks act. I had a blast writing that scene, and I think it really set the stage (pun intended) for the kind of tension being at the club is creating for our girls.

Thankfully for Katrina, they don't spend long on the main floor. They get to retire to a VIP lounge for some one-on-two time with a certain Amazon dancer!

Alouette was actually another character idea from my Prompt all those months ago, and I'm excited I finally got a chance to work her in. Her role is still a bit of a mystery, since I leave on a cliffhanger right before her dance starts, but I had a lot of fun writing her into the story.

It was also another great chance to touch in on the relationship that's the core of the story. It felt really cathartic to write in Kat checking on Alicia, making sure that being at a strip club didn't upset her at all. Jealousy is a tricky beast, and while I've got a pretty clear picture of how Alicia wrestles with it, I realize that's not always clear to the audience. Hopefully, through this scene, it's a little more obvious what her specific hangups are.

Plus, you know, obviously I'm not going to get them all the way to a strip club and then not let them get some dances.

Hopefully this little tangent is enjoyable! I know Blood & Chlorophyll has been a pretty tame series so far, and it's been nice introducing its own take on the spice that's much more frequent in my other work.

Nyx <3