Blood & Chlorophyll Ch. 10 - Reflection

How are we all doing? I really hope Chapter 9 wasn't too heavy for anyone. It was definitely a bit of a departure from my regular tone, but that's why it worked best as a one-off backstory thing. Now that we're back in the present, I get to show the actual conversation that was implied to be happening off screen during Chapter 9.

Most importantly, I need this chapter to show both girls unpacking everything they'd talked about. I needed to show Alicia recognizing everything Katrina did, but still committing to her. I mean, realistically speaking, Katrina hurt a lot of people, and while other authors might be interested in having a detailed philosophical argument about whether those actions are truly her fault, that's not the debate I wanted to have here. Like I've mentioned a few times, Alicia works with ORC, and has a lot of familiarity with the numbers, but she's never seen the personal side of everything that happened.

Katrina, on the other side, has a very different reaction. From her POV, I wanted to stress that opening up the way she did was really scary. One thing I actually feared was that seeing Katrina bond with Sera would, in some way, lessen the relationship she eventually forms with Alicia. That's one reason I really wanted to stress that her relationship with Sera was fundamentally flawed. She was hiding a pretty big secret, and clearly hadn't yet figured out a stable way to live yet.

In my opinion, the biggest indicator of Katrina's crippling self-image is that fact that she ran away from Sera. Sure, Sera asked for it, but that was in the middle of a chaotic change in Race. I think a more emotionally stable person would have stuck around, tried to help Sera through it despite her protests, but Katrina had too many self-deprecating thoughts to handle the situation correctly.

Will Sera ever show up again? Only time will tell!

We also see Katrina's assumptions after she wakes up. She's clearly ready to believe that her past was too much for Alicia, and that's why I wanted to stress the flowers and note so heavily. It was so cathartic to write them finally reconnecting. I get soooooo annoyed when relationships start and end with a kiss, and this was my first chance to really dig into the proper way a relationship should start. They talk about their feelings. they laugh, they cry, and they openly state what they want their relationship to be.

Now, I could have had the entire chapter revolve around them enjoying their new relationship status. In all honesty, I could have written them having sex for the first time, and it probably would have been a great chapter, but it didn't feel right to me.

One thing I kinda discovered along the way when I wrote Chapter 9 was how Katrina treated sex. She was very casual about it, but also used it to hurt herself. She didn't hesitate to sleep with Sera, but again, that relationship was built on a lie. I wanted Katrina's relationship with Alicia to be something more than that, something legitimate that's built on honesty, and in my opinion that relationship doesn't immediately jump to the hot lesbian sex.

Instead, I wanted to give them something do to together. Something small, something that furthers the plot but still gives them a way to bond as an actual couple. I think adding in the scene at the registration center accomplishes that. We get to see Katrina use her new guitar, use it to support Alicia, and they get to join together against the common problem that connected them in the first place.

Plus, you all know how much I love cute slice-of-life stuff, and I thought it was fun to have a scene where they essentially just putz around at the DMV.

All in all, I'm really happy with this chapter. Our girls are finally together, officially, and they have their licenses. Starting next chapter, we finally have the opportunity to start seriously looking at the Dungeon Delving side of this story!

Nyx <3