etera. my first kal and i love him to pieces already. wanted to get exact hex codes and such and peak under his lei. c: i'll be developing this child on this thread. below is the form that i did for him!
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username: carraway
name: etera - a maori name
meaning 'aid'.
gender: traveler (agender)
born male
▬ ▬ ▬ { know } ▬ ▬ ▬ name: etera - a maori name
meaning 'aid'.
gender: traveler (agender)
born male
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⌊I AM GOING⌋
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Every year there's a part of me that expects me to be used to the
homesickness by now. Part of me knows it's been long enough
that every time June comes around I shouldn't stop wherever I
am and think. It's hard to watch people go about their lives like
it's a normal day, like nothing special is happening. And yet here
I am, in Egypt, staring up at a star--Koroua² called it Matariki³--
missing a sky full of kites⁴. Koroua always grumbled about the
New Year. He talked a lot about the tourists then. He hated them.
Matariki was too sacred for him. That's what Papa said.
I hated Matariki too as a child. I don't know if it was Koroua's
fault, or just the sheer stress of the day before. Whaea⁵ would
stay up late into the morning cooking a house full of food. Papa
would be out on the water all day, fishing. Us children would
spend the morning in the ocean, collecting as many shellfish as
our little backs could carry. The saltwater would sting our eyes
and we'd accidentally breathe in and hack up lungs full of the
stuff. Tuahine⁶ was terrified of the water because of it. After she
was 12 we couldn't coax her back in there. She helped Whaea
with the cooking instead and her feet would become flat from
standing so long. Then, at night, If Papa didn't come back with a
large enough haul to feed the hungry tourists, he and Whaea
would fight and all us children would cover our ears.
Sometimes, we'd return to the ocean that we hated so much to
muffle their yells.
By the time the festivities started, we were all exhausted. Koroua
would coax us out of our rooms long enough to play
a few games, watch the fireworks, and take a turn holding onto
the kite, but usually most of us would be in bed before we got to
do all three.
I wish I'd stayed up longer now, listening to Koroua's stories
from his Koroua about the old days of the Maori. Even as I sit
here, I can feel the aching in my bones from all of the work we'd
have to do, but I miss it desperately.
I don't regret this. Any of it. After I lost it all, this is what I
wanted, to travel and see everything there ever was in the world.
I should leave my culture behind with an attitude like that. But I
can't, I never have been able to. That's why Iallow myself to get
glares, looking as I do, whenever I come to a new town.
I shouldn't be upset about the lack of a Matariki celebration.
Nothing would be as sweet as the sugar-coated memories in my
mind.
If I tried to relive it, I'd be sitting at an empty table, imagining
relatives gathered around it. I couldn't stand that.
Then again, sitting alone in the silence isn't easy either.
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June 4th¹, 2016
Every year there's a part of me that expects me to be used to the
homesickness by now. Part of me knows it's been long enough
that every time June comes around I shouldn't stop wherever I
am and think. It's hard to watch people go about their lives like
it's a normal day, like nothing special is happening. And yet here
I am, in Egypt, staring up at a star--Koroua² called it Matariki³--
missing a sky full of kites⁴. Koroua always grumbled about the
New Year. He talked a lot about the tourists then. He hated them.
Matariki was too sacred for him. That's what Papa said.
I hated Matariki too as a child. I don't know if it was Koroua's
fault, or just the sheer stress of the day before. Whaea⁵ would
stay up late into the morning cooking a house full of food. Papa
would be out on the water all day, fishing. Us children would
spend the morning in the ocean, collecting as many shellfish as
our little backs could carry. The saltwater would sting our eyes
and we'd accidentally breathe in and hack up lungs full of the
stuff. Tuahine⁶ was terrified of the water because of it. After she
was 12 we couldn't coax her back in there. She helped Whaea
with the cooking instead and her feet would become flat from
standing so long. Then, at night, If Papa didn't come back with a
large enough haul to feed the hungry tourists, he and Whaea
would fight and all us children would cover our ears.
Sometimes, we'd return to the ocean that we hated so much to
muffle their yells.
By the time the festivities started, we were all exhausted. Koroua
would coax us out of our rooms long enough to play
a few games, watch the fireworks, and take a turn holding onto
the kite, but usually most of us would be in bed before we got to
do all three.
I wish I'd stayed up longer now, listening to Koroua's stories
from his Koroua about the old days of the Maori. Even as I sit
here, I can feel the aching in my bones from all of the work we'd
have to do, but I miss it desperately.
I don't regret this. Any of it. After I lost it all, this is what I
wanted, to travel and see everything there ever was in the world.
I should leave my culture behind with an attitude like that. But I
can't, I never have been able to. That's why Iallow myself to get
glares, looking as I do, whenever I come to a new town.
I shouldn't be upset about the lack of a Matariki celebration.
Nothing would be as sweet as the sugar-coated memories in my
mind.
If I tried to relive it, I'd be sitting at an empty table, imagining
relatives gathered around it. I couldn't stand that.
Then again, sitting alone in the silence isn't easy either.
word count: 499/500
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╚════════════════════╝
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¹ this particular constellation rises at different times of year depending on the place, but usually at the beginning of june in new zealand, so i went ahead and set it then. ² "grandfather" in te reo, the moari language. ³ the matariki consetllation is called pleiades outside of the maori culture. ⁴ flying kites, setting off fireworks, and other things that bring attention to sky are popular at matariki new year celebrations. ⁵ "mother" in te reo. ⁶ "sister" in te reo
a/n: cutting this one real close. -.-' coding was being a real pill shouldn't have waited 'til last minute.
coding, writing © me | images sources untraceable | quote (lovingly sort of butchered and shortened) © carl sagan
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¹ this particular constellation rises at different times of year depending on the place, but usually at the beginning of june in new zealand, so i went ahead and set it then. ² "grandfather" in te reo, the moari language. ³ the matariki consetllation is called pleiades outside of the maori culture. ⁴ flying kites, setting off fireworks, and other things that bring attention to sky are popular at matariki new year celebrations. ⁵ "mother" in te reo. ⁶ "sister" in te reo
a/n: cutting this one real close. -.-' coding was being a real pill shouldn't have waited 'til last minute.
coding, writing © me | images sources untraceable | quote (lovingly sort of butchered and shortened) © carl sagan
hex codes markings one markings two markings three/eyes markings four paws/tounge brown one brown two brown three brown four hair
