Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----MEGA

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

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Ah, the paradox of leadership.

Witness Mega, who literally tossed Ram on the trash heap and took over the Technos.

And once he was tribe leader, his incredibly sadistic side started showing. Need punishment? Gee, lets get Jack to make us a virtual game that hurts people and THEN let's test it out on Jack's girlfriend!

Oh, our boy Mega made previous-leader Ram look downright normal. And the icing on the cake? Well, if Mega goes down then the whole city goes with him because he has his OWN VIRUS he can unleash to destroy everyone!

*Sigh*

Those of us playing KTDA have dealt with our own version of Mega, believe me. His name was Crux, and he was tribe leader of the Moths.

He was secretive, sadistic, charismatic, and totally a lunatic.

Unfortunately Crux didn't survive his Grand Scheme. He died trying to take us all with him.

Fortunately for Fort River, the river came flooding back and doused that damned Virus before it had a chance to do its worst.

Sorry, Crux.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----MAY

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characterse who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

* * * * * * * * * * *

If there was one girl who was consistently underestimated throughout all the seasons of "The Tribe," that girl was May.

May was a gadfly. She showed up here & there when she was needed.

In Season-2, she was needed to teach Lex a short lesson in humility. She was needed in Season-3 to bounce between the Chosen & the freedom fighters, leaving us mostly to guess which side she was really on. She was needed in Season-4 to help Pride cope, even though that ultimately broke her heart.

In Season-5, May was needed to make Salene think...think very, very hard...about the nature of love & hearts that speak to each other.

Unfortunately, when all was said & done, May was still the gadfly. She didn't really belong anywhere.

Our KTDA gladfly of a different sort is Katara.

Katara is a medic from a tribe called The 100. As we got to know Katara, we realized that everything about her was camouflage. That extended even to her clothes and her gender.

It seemed that most people thought Katara was a guy.

They were wrong. Katara was a lovely, sensitive, lonely girl trapped in a situation that was not of her making.

And then Katara met Arianna, tribe leader of the Misfits.

And then they fell in love.

And then Katara...vanished.

But the thing is, as with all gadflies, you never know when they might turn up again. Usually when they're needed.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----LUKE

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Chosen gave us a lot of over-the-top characters. What was surprising was how NOT over the top the character of Luke was portrayed. He was almost...normal?

Luke was one of the Guardian's most trusted lieutenants, and I think I know why. The guy was straight. He was a less crazy face for the Guardian to the public. Kind of like, with the Technos, Jay was a more normal public face for Ram.

But this IS a post-Virus world, and normal is debatable. Luke was a sad figure. That was probably why girls were attracted to him. Salene certainly was. Luke was the one man Ellie chose over Jack and THAT was a total shocker.

A striking man with a troubled past, who carried his distress and sadness with him like an open wound...

That describes Luke, and it very much describes KTDA's Llysander.

Llysander (or Llys) is pretty much normal, as normal goes in our post-Virus game world. He's striking and friendly and courteous. He wants to work and pay his way, not just taking from others. The girls certainly seem drawn to him too.

Mostly he's carrying a lot of sadness and determination...sadness at the state of the world around him, determination to find the missing sister that this crazy, dysfunctional world separated him from.

We hope he finds what he's looking for. We hope he finds all the things he's looking for.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----LEX

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

* * * * * * * * * *

How does a Tribe-fan actually define Lex?

Starting with Season-1 all the way through Season-5, Lex was predictable & yet always surprising.

He was a bully & a brawler who could show surprising moments of sensitivity.

He was uneducated yet street-wise enough to survive--and thrive!--in the post-Virus world.

Our "Sexy Lexy" was a lover, a scoundrel, a devoted husband, a womanizer...sometimes a heart-throb and sometimes just a downright bastard.

Yeah, Lex was certainly one of a kind and did we ever enjoy it!

KTDA has a true Lex revenant in Sypher.

What can we say about Sypher that we haven't already said about Lex? Well...he wasn't a husband, at least as far as we know. But fighter, lover, womanizer, scoundrel?

Oh, yes. And over in our game, we're enjoying every minute of it!

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----KC

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

* * * * * * * * * *

In "The Tribe," the little kids were so great! One of our favorites was always KC. Since he fumbled his way into the Mallrats and began to idol-worship Lex, we knew this kid was gonna be interesting.

KC was a go-getter. He always had a plan, a scheme, a brilliant idea--either that or he was on the verge of one. Anybody who saw it just has to admit, when he recruited Patsy & Cloe to sell watches & then buy the watches back with sunglasses (unfortunately they failed to check if the watches had batteries), it was hilarious!

Need some entertainment? Time for KC's famous "Rat Race"!

If we'd seen KC grow up, he might've become KTDA's Rio.

Fort River's opportunity-guy, Rio's biggest claim to fame so far has been electricity. Yep, he's our Power Czar--he figured out how to get the water wheel working at the hydroelectric center and voila! Power!

Like KC, Rio knows how to stay out in front of the pack. Also like KC, Rio has a thing for gambling apparently. Whether it's the tables at Mirage or the arena at Jet's fight club, Rio seems to spend as freely as he makes.

Now we wonder, can he keep it up? KC's scheming got him in and out of a lot of tricky spots. Last we saw of him, he was in a cage guarded by Chosen.

Last we saw of Rio, he was cheering at the local fights.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----JAY

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

* * * * * * * * * *

When you think of "Tribe" and "honorable," our man Jay has to be pretty high on your list.

Ok, yeah, he was one of the invading Technos. He was actually one of the Techno leaders who orchestrated their shock-n-awe takeover of the city. Jay was Rom's trusted general, and he did his job very well.

Not sure what it was that brought out his ethical side. It might've been there all along, just waiting for a catalyst.

Or it might've been him getting the hots for Ebony.

Oh, wait--make that "hots for Trudy."

Um...no. Wrong. He had the hots for Amber.

Ok, my head's spinning. Let's just admit the guy was a man-ho & leave it at that. Still, he tried to do the right thing. It was just that the right thing kept changing up on him all the time.

So far, the beginning part of this Jay-description seems to apply directly to KTDA's Kane.

There's a lot we don't know about Kane, but we know that so far he's played things pretty much on the up-n-up. Since he's been in Fort River, he established a small business for himself & his friends to pay the bills.

Somehow he hooked up with Valentine, and that's where things have started to get interesting. Kane's played it pretty much honorable as far as we can tell. And, ok, yeah...he may have the first indications of a man----

Oh well, never mind. We'll have to wait & see what happens with that. Should be fun!

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----JACK

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ah, Jack. From the beginning, Jack clung to the Old World with a vengeance.

Living in a mall, stocking up on all the junk food he could get his hands on, but especially the old established technology - that's where our Jack excelled.

Purify the water? He was on it with his trusty assistant Dal. Wind power? No worries.

In that same role, KTDA has Rook. With a portable science lab in his backpack and a brain filled with sometimes-useful knowledge, Rook is lucky he has his brother to keep his feet planted more or less firmly on the ground.
Want to bring a river back to life? Rook is definitely your man.

We can't wait to see what he'll come up with next!

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----HAWK

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

* * * * * * * * * *

When it comes to the tall, dark & silent type, the Eco-tribe (or Gaians) had Hawk.

Hawk wasn't around a whole lot. You could catch him now & then in the crowd of Ecos usually hangin' around Amber/Eagle. Mostly he appeared in Season-5, after Pride died & then again when Mouse wanted to get out of the city.

When he was on screen, you noticed.

We didn't know a whole lot about Hawk. He just had a presence that drew you. He seemed sad, alone, the same kind of guy that Pride probably was before he was corrupted by the city and his attachment to Amber.

And that really, really reminds us of KTDA's Llysander.

Llysander, or Llys, hasn't been around our game very long. He's tall, dark, broody & totally compelling when he's in a scene.

Llys also has the whole wanna-hug-him thing going on when you learn he's this sad figure in the landscape searching for a long-lost sister.

There's nothing "metro" or confusing about either Hawk of Llys.

While Hawk was almost a throw-away character in "The Tribe," we hope that Llysander gets more development in the game. His attraction to the fight club is an interesting twist. I think we might enjoy where this leads us.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----ELLIE

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ellie was a lot of fun as a character.

From the moment she came on-screen as Alice's Virus-infected sister who got helped by the Mallrats' antidote - and especially when she came like a whirlwind into Jack's & Dal's lives - Ellie was just delightful. And if I'm right? Ellie was one of the very few females who didn't fall for Bray! hehe...

Ellie was a pretty, bright, intelligent, fun-loving girl who had a hard time taking no for an answer.

She also had her serious side. With Jack's help she created "The Amulet" newspaper that focused on finding out what REALLY happened with the Virus - who was responsible & why did it happen. (Danni really, really wished Ellie had let that one alone!)

When it came to boys? Ellie had some very definite opinions. It took her 4 seasons! in the game before she finally experienced love. Despite Luke or anyone else, it was always Jack who touched her heart and brought her to life.

Bless Jenna's heart, she's very much like Ellie. She can be fun and entertaining. She has her serious side and her socially conscious side, which is illustrated in her work as a bard. She can be fun; and in all truth, our girl Jenna is sooooo innocent in a game-world that ... well ... isn't.

Don't change, Jenna! We want to see you grow and develop and stay true to yourself, just the way our girl Ellie did.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----EBONY

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

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Make a roster of truly unique, stand-out characters from "The Tribe," and Ebony is one you can't miss. Through all 5 seasons, we could depend on Ebony to ultimately land on on her feet.

Whether she was acting as the Mallrats "muscle" or taking on the Chosen or even fighting her own sisters, Ebony always gave us a good show. And almost as fun as watching her establish her authority was enjoying the men she challenged -- Zoot, Bray, Lex, Ram, Jay, Slade.

Good times. Definitely good times.

Sneaky. Selfish. Spoiled. Street fighter. Survivor. That was our Ebony.

It's also our Villa.

And more and more, it's becoming our Jet.

Villa is a force unto herself that no one--nope, not even Marionette--has been able to stop or tame. She's wicked strange most days. She loves as hard as she fights, and doing either or both seem to keep her happy. She doesn't have Ebony's strategic focus, but she definitely has Ebony's passion. And boy, can this girl put on a show!

Jet is showing the same kind of potential, but she is more an inheritor of Ebony's wild strategies. The show Jet puts on has more to do with what she can get other people to do. Like...say...the Fight Club. Interesting choice for her, and we're loving every minute of it. This girl has lots & lots of Ebony-style potential. We're enjoying watching it develop.

Congratulations, ladies!

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----DANNI

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters
who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was just one season, Season 2, yet the character of Danni left an indelible impression on Tribe-world.

This girl wasn't a primal survivalist. Danni carried her civilization and ethics and ingrained democratic beliefs with her--just as important to her as food and water and living to the next day. It was obvious in the things that drove her. Getting the trading market going, her Bill of Rights, leadership of the MallRats. . .

Danni was also driven by her past, a past that wasn't her fault and she couldn't be blamed for. It was harsh when everyone found out Danni's father was the scientist responsible for the Virus that devastated their world.

She was working through all that, beginning to live up to her potential and change her world, when the Chosen came and the Guardian captured all the tribe leaders.

Danni disappeared, but she has never been forgotten.

Valentine came from a different background but has faced, and is facing, a lot of the same challenges Danni knew. Val's back story led her to be an anarchist, and it seems she has always been a natural leader if anarchists have leaders. She is a magnetic personality, and people respond to her.

Where Danni had the Guardian, Valentine had kidnapping and slavery and a near-death experience that totally changed her. Today our girl is a bona fide capitalist, one who seems to be using her influence to help others. For every wildly successful business like Home (an inn/bar) and Mirage (a casino), there is also an indoor trading market and a free shelter/clinic for the city kids that she either sponsors or pays for.

Where Val truly parallels Danni seems to be in her choice of men. These girls aim high, and that will definitely lead to broken hearts along the way.

We were sorry to see Danni disappear after one short season.

We hope Valentine is with us a very long time.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----CLOE

The KTDA Council of Tribes "Tribe Awards," honoring our game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know and love!

* * * * * * * * * *

Cloe was one of "The Tribe's" original brat pack. With Patsy and Dal and KC, you just never knew what they would get into next.

Cloe was also one of the few in the show who had something resembling a normal life. Whether it was adopting her first pet (everybody remember the cow?), worrying about her first boyfriend (poor Dal), feeling left out when Patsy found other interests, or dealing with the raging hormones that come with puberty, Cloe was as close to a "normal kid" as you're going to get.

When it comes to our game-world, LILY is one of the few characters who have had close to a normal life. That was mostly thanks to Arianna & The Misfits, who took Lily in during the first season and have taken care of her ever since.

Lily has had quite a time of it. She's seen the best and worst of life in Fort River since the Virus, and you know that's bound to change a person. Yet Lily has remained surprisingly. . .normal.

Lately our Lily is growing up and finding her independence. When power was restored to the city, this girl had an idea and hustled her butt to start her own business. Now she's selling ice to a lot of the bars and other places in town. That has to be building her a nice little nest egg for the future.

So here's to Lily, growing up in a post-Virus world and not letting herself get defeated.

Lily has dreams. When all is said and done, that's what "Keep The Dream Alive" rpg is all about.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Spring 2010 "Tribe Awards"-----BRAY

Once again, the KTDA Council of Tribes has spoken. After a long deliberation, the Council chose to honor game-characters who parallel the original "Tribe" characters we all know & love with their Spring round of awards! Chyna's Closet is going to count down the winners with all honors & kudos for hard work accomplished.

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Throughout "The Tribe," Bray was the quintessential survivor. More often than not, Bray would choose to go his own way & follow his own gut instincts, even when no one else agreed with him.

While he may have been...popular, with the ladies...there were plenty of people ready to take him on. Our man Bray was falsely accused of hoarding water, sabotaged when he tried to straighten things out with his younger brother Martin (maybe better known as Zoot). He was envied, loved, battled, misled, hated & played for a fool.

Still, you could count on Bray to landed on his feet.

That pretty much describes the character Sid in "Keep The Dream Alive" role-playing game.

Sid joined us in the game's first season. He was about as subtle as a burning house and full of energy. Over the years and the seasons Sid's been a Reaper, a Misfit & a Traveler. A father & a fighter. A king & a ghost.

Mostly though, he's tried to do the right thing. He didn't always succeed very well at it, and there were a lot of mistakes made along the way. But at the end of the day, Sid was true to himself. It's hard to ask more than that.

Sid has survived more than most people, and he's done it on his own terms.

Congratulations, guy! At the end of the day, channeling "Bray" isn't an easy thing to do. You do it with class and integrity.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

I hate goodbyes...

Tonight my Henry went to sleep in my arms. Now he sleeps with angels. I didn't have him long, barely 2 years. He was 10 when he came to me ... with a heart oversized enough to hold his joy for living. This Chinese crested powderpuff romped joyfully through all our lives and loved every second of his "retirement" in his new home.

Dammit, it hurts. I hate goodbyes, and this one came too damn soon.

If you're reading this and you know me, be kind and don't mention it for a few days or weeks, ok? I think it will take me that long to keep from crying.

Goodbye, Henry. We love you.

-Sherry

Older

Ok, so my birthday makes me nostalgic & moody.

Sue me.

It didn't seem like our Tribe friends had that problem. They were focused on the day-to-day, surviving. Only 1 core character actually faced getting old, and it was a horror. That was Lex; he caught the Virus & was aging toward death pretty fast. Of course, he had a cure.

*sigh*

A cure for getting old? Nah, I won't wish for it. I'm not going to regret the quantity of years I've lived or the number I may have left.

Getting old means living your life, loving your family, having friends & experiencing what the world has to offer.

In a lot of ways, that's what The Tribe was about - the right to live. To love your family 'n friends. To experience your world & grow & find your own path to being happy.

How can you argue with that?

As someone (probably famous who I can't remember) once said, it's not about the destination. It's about the journey.

Birthdays are about celebrating the journey.

*hugs* to everyone who sent good wishes my way, who ate cake with a salute to me, who gave me a card or presents.

You are the ones who make my journey worthwhile.

love,
Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

Change

No matter what you do, "change" catches up with you.

Good. Bad. Indifferent. Doesn't matter.

If nature abhors a vaccuum, then it hates stagnation more.

Change in The Tribe was as obvious as the Virus and as constant as struggling to live daily. Hell, they were kids. Teenagers. That's pretty much the definition of change. Want more? The Chosen. And just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, here come the Technos. Sometimes I believe the core theme of The Tribe was change in all its forms, for better or worse.

I guess you can use other words. Growth. Evolution. Advancing civilization. Problem is, the older I get, the more "change" = "bad."

I know, I know. I'm rambling.

Change.

Ok. life IS change. That theme keeps carrying over, especially in KTDA. Our game reflects the aspects of life each of us feel. We put it out there through our characters then see how others react. Sometimes those reactions are what we expect--disinterest usually. Bored. Ignored. Other times we're surprised when a character reacts with caring, concern, even a willingness to "let me help." Those are high points, for real.

KTDA is preparing for a pretty big change, coming soon. This time it's a dual change. We're going into our game's Season-9. That means new plots, new characters, new situations, maybe new players. We're also doing a 2-month time jump and going straight to October and autumn. That'll be a refreshing change from the whacked out summer we've endured.

The season change also brings our game full circle. It will be one full game-year that we've played. For the handful of us who've been with the game since Season-1, that's bringing back a lot of memories. It's also hitting us over the head with how the game has changed. Characters we've loved and lost. Battles we've fought. Struggles we've endured. Decisions we've made.

Change.

Just like life.

Sometimes it sucks. Sometimes it brings the best surprises.

Wouldn't it be nice, if we could choose?

-Chyna
Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe

Learning about rpg'ing, Tribe-style

I'm waiting on a season-change in KTDA. A couple things have to happen yet, and they're goin' kinda slow. I guess that's making me brood.

Tonight I'm thinking about all of our players. We have quite a few these days, and that's so cool. I'm thinking about the differences among them--writing styles, the way they see their characters, likes & dislikes, that kinda thing.

I'm thinking of "Danni" and "Salene."

A lot of players remind me of Sal. Salene seemed to be mostly a background kinda girl. A brick. You knew who she was & you could always count on her to stay true to form. She went along. She got along with people. Whatever situation she found herself in, Salene tried to do what she thought she was supposed to. She was a reactionary. Need a few examples? No worries.

Salene & Trudy. Trudy had a baby; Sal became chief baby sitter. It was a good role for her. She knew what to do & how to do it. Salene & the Chosen. She joined up and actually wound up believing in the myth of Zoot. Whatever they told her to do, she did. It was the same in her relationship with Ryan. Amazing that she was the only one among the girls to find a boyfriend who was more interested in being her friend than sleeping with her, huh? But that was our Salene. She didn't change an awful lot from beginning to end. Dependable, predictable, solid.

"Danni" was something different. We didn't know her long. Then again, sometimes you had to wonder if we really knew her at all. (That whole "daughter of the guy who invented the Virus" stuff totally caught me off guard!) The only thing predictable about Danni was her zeal. She drove the action rather than waiting for it to drive her. Danni's "bill of rights." The Mallrats' trading market with money they created. The way she took forever to bend a knee to the Guardian. Then again...did she? We didn't know her long but she was a whirlwind who pulled a lot of people (like Bray & Lex) along in her wake.

It's an interesting parallel.

Our Salene-like players are solid. They can play a scene with the best of us. They get every emotion & detail out of it until you can see that scene playing out vividly in your mind.

Our Danni-like players are the ones that pull us through the story. They find new tales to tell, new directions to take us, and new ideas for us to flesh out & bring to life.

You just gotta play to your strengths. Always.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

2010, The New Tomorrow

Look into the future...what do you see?

We have a brand new year ahead of us, people. Same new Millinneum. Entirely new Decade. A lot of promise. A lot of possibility.

From day-1, that's what The Tribe was about. Possibilities. The fact that the future is what we make of it, good or bad. You can either be stuck in the same-old-same rut, or you can look past it. Really look into the future, and then make it what you imagine it could be.

Whether your fave was The Tribe or it's little sister The New Tomorrow, kinda doesn't matter.

Possibility is, ultimately, possibility.

Now we need the big brother to those shows--the one that gives a clean slate to the rest of us who are over 21.

Clean slate. Nice thought, huh?

Today is the first day of a brand new year. Let's see what you can make of it, shall we?

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The New Tomorrow"

Bittersweet

It's New Year's Eve. I'm spending it quietly, at home with family. A few things occurred to me tonight I hadn't thought of before ... maybe because of the season, maybe because I was re-reading the blog I wrote for Christmas.

First, it occurred to me that our Tribe friends didn't know how to recreate "family" the way they experienced it before the Virus.

They tried. Trudy wanted so much to have a family the way her mom & dad made one. When she became afraid of life with Zoot (the father of her baby), she tried to force Bray into playing the daddy-role. And unfortunately that became the pattern: babies as leverage. Leverage against Bray. Leverage for the Chosen. I'm not saying Trudy was a bad mother ... it's just that definitions changed as the world changed.

When Amber had her baby, daddy Bray was long gone. Her baby became an excuse for Amber to keep other men at bay, an excuse for acquiesing to Techno demands (yeah, Technos knew how to use leverage against people too).

Family? We have mothers, and young men who are fathers; but it's a sense of family that's missing.

Sometimes a stronger family sense came between siblings. Patsy & Paul were inseperable until Paul "vanished." Alice & Ellie are a better example. Alice fought for her sister, even kidnapping Taisan so she could get the Virus antedote for Ellie to live.

After 5 seasons, we will never know how the rest of the growing years affected mothers & fathers & babies. If things continued the way they began ... well, I guess we have new definitions for "family" and "adolescence" and "adulthood."

And that points to the 2nd thing that occurred to me tonight.

Though I'm not a mother, I know the love and affection of children. I know the satisfaction of helping them gain understanding & faith in themselves. I know the distinctly bittersweet joy of watching them grow into confident young adults who are ready to fly. It's joyful because they reward all your faith in them. It's bittersweet because the time comes when it's you they're flying away from. But that's all right too.

It's New Year's Eve. My "children" are far away, but they're as close as my thoughts. They're in my heart.

Somewhere in Tribe-world, it would be nice to think that Amber and Trudy and all the others could say the same thing.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"

The Greatest Warrior

Never hurt when holding is enough.


















Never maim when hurting is enough.














Never kill when maiming is enough.












The Greatest Warrior is he who never has to kill.















--Chyna

...with a tip of the hat to Stephen R. Donaldson for a classic series of books, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever

Photo source: copyright Cloud 9 "The Tribe"

Merry Christmas, 2009

We never saw Christmas in The Tribe. Actually we didn't see much of old-world traditions carried into the new, post-Virus world.

Even in our Tribe-based rpg, that seems to be the case after almost a total game-year has transpired for us. The only major celebration we've had was Winter Solstice. A few characters have quietly, personally observed their own traditions. The two that come to mind quickly are Christmas and Hanukkah. Other than that ... nothing.

I think that's a bit sad. The one thing Christmas does for us today is bind people together. In this holiday season, we see families come closer and count their blessings. We see neighbors helping each other more. Even strangers on the street can be friendlier.

Christmas is about hope. Hope is one thing we can't have enough of.

Even for someone spending Christmas alone, there can be joyful moments. A Christmas card from a distant relative. A phone call from mom in Florida. An unexpected present from a friend. A neighbor shoveling your snow. A candle lit against the dark. You just have to have eyes to see and a heart that can reach out and understand.

To my Tribe-friends, I hope you're all well and spending Christmas with your loved ones. I don't think you can do any better than that.

Here's a virtual hug coming your way -- *hugs*

Merry Christmas, whatever world you live in.

-Chyna

Photo source: copyright Cloud-9 "The Tribe"