_{i’ve talked about this a little bit before, but it was a long time ago and i don’t think a lot of people saw it !    so ,  here we go again.    when she was still living in the clothes she regularly wore in the series, they were all very modest and plain.  this is because her parents bought her clothes for her and she didn’t have much say in what she owned.  once she’s on her own and independent, she starts to explore fashion a little bit more and begins to learn how to dress in a way she not only finds flattering on herself, but that makes her happy and that she feels comfortable in.  the first time she wears a short skirt, she feels totally powerful !   when she wears tight jeans ,   she feels sexy, and good about herself and her body !    she wears shorts that are shorter than knee-length and suddenly feels like she’s discovered her own legs for the First Time !    she steals fancy panties and bras from a victoria’s secret and feels a million times more confident when she wears them !    she wears clothes she actually wants to wear as a form of self-expression, and as a way to feel like her body is hers again after her possession.}

               _{things she likes includes (but is not limited to) denim shorts, skater-style skirts that are soft and flowy, tank tops, comfortable sundresses, soft sweaters, and form-fitting but comfortable jeans.}

               _{there’s not a whole lot that she’s adamantly against wearing. but she does prefer to keep things somewhat modest, you won’t really see her wearing shorts that are scandalously short, extremely lowcut tops, or very tight dresses. anything like that —- it’s just not what she’s comfortable in.  she’s also really not a fan of leather, partially because amaru was so fond of it, so the texture of it against her body makes her skin crawl.}

          _{in season 2, kate goes back to bethel.   she does contact jessica, which means she probably was still on good terms with most of the people in town.   i imagine she found out that kyle died while she was there,  it’s likely someone expressed their condolences.   she didn’t cry until she was alone. even if kyle wasn’t exactly what she was looking for, he was a good person and she loved him.  he deserved better than an early death.  when she does pray, which isn’t often anymore,  she asks god to take care of him.}   

           _{if she knew it was carlos that killed kyle, frankly, she wouldn’t have been as surprised when he shot her. she’d have been extremely angry —- and, of course, heartbroken. she blames herself for him getting caught up in the messiness that was the culebras and the twister.  she regrets ever getting involved with him, because if she hadn’t asked him to come get her, he would still be alive, and probably would’ve taken over her father’s job as pastor.} 

        _{before amaru/the twister/mexico,  kate was actually fairly good at volleyball.  she’d been planning to take a scholarship that had been offered to her and play in college, where she planned to study nursing.  she also enjoyed journaling, and kept a diary that she really suspected scott kept close tabs on.   after amaru, she doesn’t care for journaling.  she doesn’t even know where she’d start.  there’s just too much, too many feelings to get out —-  and she doesn’t like the thought that the geckos could access it so easily if they wanted,  and gain way too much insight (and realize that she’s really not as okay as she pretends to be).  she does draw, though, poorly. her pen scratches through pages of motel bibles like a blade. she throws them in the garbage when they leave each motel.}

         _{something she likes despite lacking practicality is nail polish. every week or so her nails are a new color.  she also steals magazines, books if she can. she never keeps them for too long, but it makes her feel like a normal girl again for the short time she has them.} 

       she doesn’t usually sleep well.   _{it’s a side effect of xibalba, the nightmares that plague her when night falls.   she wakes the next morning and it looks like she’s  been  bruised ,   dark purple circles beneath green eyes.   she washes her face with water in a vain attempt to bring a little life to her face.  a spray bottle of rosewater she keeps in her purse has helped a bit to reinvigorate her skin.  she also has a face wash, pink grapefruit scented, and an eye cream (for the dark circles) that she stole from a grocery store.  she hasn’t seen too many results, but it makes her feel like she’s taking care of herself, anyway.   her favorite products are ones that smell nice, frankly.  other than that she doesn’t really have a preference.}

       _{kate grew up listening to christian and country music. the older she got, though, the more she tended to lean towards modern teen-girl staples: she likes the arctic monkeys, lana del rey, the 1975, the neighbourhood, etc. however one of her favorite groups is actually the civil wars.   her karaoke go - to ?   girls just wanna have fun. she has so much fun singing it that she can’t even really be embarrassed.     in her main verse ,  she doesn’t really dance much. but in her earlier verses & the verses where the twister/amaru never happened, she likes to bop around while she gets ready in the morning, to songs by artists like lady gaga, one direction, charli xcx, and the ready set. tldr; she likes indie country and pop. she’s a teenage girl from small town texas, and her music taste pretty much reflects that.}

     _{the first one she gets is an impulse, drunk and thinking it’s funny. twenty first birthday,  california.  she wakes up the next morning, and her left hip stings,  nose wrinkles and she peeks under her pajama shorts. it’s  a green gecko curling it’s way around her hipbone. she doesn’t tell seth or richie —- it’s less funny and more embarrassing when she’s sober.}

      _{the next one she gets is on purpose, not long after her first one. she figures she already has one, more couldn’t hurt, and it doesn’t hurt bad enough for her to leave it at one. (besides, she thinks, she likes tattoos. it makes her body feel more…. hers.)   this one is in honor of her mother and father, the words love is patient. love is kind on the inside of her right forearm.}

      _{throughout the years, if she feels like it, she’ll get more small ones. never ones with a lot of meaning, just a little something to ground her.}  

         _{i do !   i’ll focus on the relationships from bethel for now, though, otherwise this post will get way too long .}

         _{one of the biggest, most important relationships in kate’s life back in bethel would be jessica. despite being best friends, kate and jessica always had a very volatile and two-faced relationship. jessica was headstrong and had no problem taking whatever she wanted: which, most of the time, was whatever kate had. she had a poor home life and was always incredibly envious of kate’s happy family. jess moved to bethel during sophomore year of high school, because in her previous town she was bullied badly for having a reputation of sexual promiscuity. she and kate bonded quickly when they first met, but her jealousy of both kate’s home life and preacher’s daughter reputation made their friendship extremely tense at times. she frequently pursued boys that kate expressed interest in, and kyle (second npc) was the only boy kate was ever interested in that wasn’t won over by jessica’s charm and…. cleavage, frankly.    that’s not to say that she wasn’t a good friend. kate loved her dearly, and desperately wanted to impress her. kate even had a bit of a crush on her, but was in denial of her bisexuality for the entirety of hertime in bethel. anyway, it’d be a lie to say kate was a perfect friend to her, too, she did her fair share of angry venting (and said some pretty negative things) to her parents and friends from church who didn’t know jessica.}

         _{kyle is a fairly important npc as well.  he was kate’s first serious boyfriend. she wasn’t allowed to date until she was sixteen years old, but the two had been flirting for a long time before that.   he was a perfect gentlemen (to kate’s minor chagrin), and even asked her father for permission to ask her on a date. (her dad said no, but kyle insisted until he was given jacob’s ‘blessing’. kate doesn’t know that this happened.)  she didn’t love him, but she told him she did because she thought she could grow to love him. that was the kind of boy she was meant to be with, after all, cookie cutter perfect christian boy who wouldn’t have sex with her even after nearly a year of dating.  ultimately, she told him that she loved him in the rv on the way to mexico because he had something she wanted: a way out. she misses him sometimes, but she also knows that she never would’ve been truly happy with him.}