I got this journal for my seventeenth birthday, to "express myself", so I suppose I shall finally write in this thing. If only because Callum just won't stop bugging me about it.
My name is Morag Ainsley. If my name didn't give it away, I'm from Scotland. While my hometown was Glasgow, my family has never stayed in one place for more than a few years at a time. We are always moving from one place to another. I guess that's just how being in a military family works. Despite this, I've always been close with my family, especially Callum, my brother. He's the older one, but he certainly doesn't act like it. People often think I am the older sibling, even if he's got a few years on me. Even if he has a certain…lack of maturity, he really is an amazing brother. He'll keep a secret to his grave, which certainly helped when I was…well, it'll be easier to explain it in full.
Yesterday, I finally received my acceptance letter from Naoki International Academy, located in Sendai, Japan. You see, for the past several weeks I've applied to seven schools in as many countries. My parents knew nothing of it, but it wasn't like they forbade such things if I stayed on the course they saw for me, which of course is to join the military. The other ones I have received thus far had also been acceptance letters. Not much of a surprise, considering my academics and battling prowess. It's expected from a general's daughter – even more so under my father's discipline. But it was Naoki that I wanted to attend. Something about it…compelled me to apply. It was the one I had been waiting for, and I was glad to see they wanted me to attend as much as I wanted to go myself. All that had remained was to tell my parents, which is honestly what prompted me to write in the first place.
I did not think my parents would disapprove so strongly of my decision, especially my mother. I guess I should have expected it from Father, as he is very firm on us entering the military. His family has this tradition of sorts as far as the military goes. Everyone in the Ainsley household, male and female, have been involved in the military in some shape or form, and of course Father expects the same from Callum and me. But…Mother isn't like that. She has always allowed us to choose our own paths and was willing to support us all the way, so this refusal from her is unexpected. What is it about this academy that she is so against? And how do I convince my parents to let me attend? I just hope I can find a compromise that we can all agree on that allows me to go to Naoki.
Hello! And it's me again, finally writing. How long has it been…? Eight months, three weeks, and three days. Wow. I shudder to think that's true. Almost nine months it took for motivation to finally show itself and punch me in the gut.
Three days ago, I had this sudden urge to write a story through the eyes of my OC from To the Better You by Clarified Conundrum: Morag Ainsley. If you haven't read that story yet, I have two words for you: READ IT. They do some of the best character interactions I have ever seen, and the battles are pretty stellar themselves. Thanks, Clarified Conundrum, for letting me tackle this project.
So, as you may have seen, this story may be a bit…different than what I normally would do. I'll say this immediately though. Not all the chapters will be in this journal-like style. Otherwise this would be a lot more difficult to possibly follow and for me to add detail to. Most will be following a more standard story format, but some, like this one, will be as Morag writing in her diary/journal.
Anyway, I love writing trivia. Just something I enjoy. So, here's some right off the bat about Morag herself:
-When I first made her more than a month ago, I kind of had an extreme addiction (and still do) to Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Anyone who's played the game should already know where I'm going with this, but for those who haven't, I heavily based Morag off Mὸrag Ladair from said game. Yes, even with the name itself.
-On that note, she couldn't be a Fire type user (for the whole Flamebringer and Brighid parts) since the main character in To the Better You, Naomi, is the Fire type user. I won't be revealing which type I chose for her yet because it hasn't been shown yet, but I can tell you she does not have any fire types. Though honestly it was for the best.
-And then there's the title of this FanFiction. I don't particularly care for it, if only because it's another crazy Xenoblade 2 reference (RIP Ardanian soldier battle lines), but it's the only thing I can think of.