I just wanted to thank everyone who's been reading! The comments are always a welcome sight! I am sorry that few of you don't like Hancock and Nate's relationship, but I hope that there are some who enjoy it as I do.
The reason I have them how they are is actually based on a play through where my character (Capricorn) ended up really favoring Hancock, which was odd since I always personally preferred Paladin Danse. Capricorn's charisma wasn't high enough to save Danse, so he couldn't talk him out of it, and he killed him. It tore me apart, just as I thought it would Capricorn as well. After that he tried to run with MacCready (of whom is my second favorite companion) and they seemed to butt heads a lot. Then along came this colonial ghoul, and Capricorn took an immediate liking. I think it was from the underlying feeling that he would have loved Danse even though he was a synth, and didn't see a problem, now he had a similar situation with a ghoul. A personality and person he could really get along with, but being something was supposed to keep them apart.
I honestly wish I liked the female companions more. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, or they just don't interest me as much, but each has quirks that just didn't really go with how I played Capricorn. And since I used Cap for this story as a physical and play through representation of Nate, that meant he didn't really care for the female companions that way. Cap also hasn't done a lot of quests which is why he hasn't found Curie or Cait. Cait seemed a bit harsh for him, though, and Curie, as sweet as she is, seemed to be a little too good.
If you can bare with me, you'll be rewarded with eventual Mac x Maddy action. If it wasn't for one of my roommates they would have already done the thing, but my roommate brought to my attention that I move a lot faster in relationships than normal people do, and felt that was quite fast for Maddy who'd never had this before. SO, I have to let my own sexual frustrations out somehow, and THAT is probably why Nate and Hancock get into it every three chapters or so. But I'm kinda digging the slow and steady with them (but I have no idea at what point people reach these relationship checkpoints, as my husband and I only were dating a mere weeks before we said we loved each other, kissed the same day, and started messing around once we were engaged a year later, and got married the same year we got engaged.) Obviously Mac and Maddy are in a total different situation and Mac would be more comfortable moving faster than her.
The decision to make Hancock and Nate what they are also is rooted in how Mac and Maddy will be. I hate relationships in books that break up and get back together all the time, and I wanted AT LEAST ONE relationship that wouldn't go anywhere (This doesn't mean Mac and Maddy will be that couple, I was just expressing my personal want–this also doesn't mean that they won't be that couple, who knows? Not me, I'm only writing down what these guys do, I have almost no control over what happens). So I gave Nate the strong relationship. He deserves it after everything he's been through. And since I try to be realistic with my writing, I couldn't give him the perfect family, hence Shaun acting out.
In case you care, Shaun's outbursts are based on my brother-in-law who just turned 12. He acts how I've presented Shaun. He's not a bad kid, but he's no angel. I hope to do more developing with him, but he's not a main character (I feel like a horrible person, but honestly Duncan is higher on my totem pole than Shaun).
I have some twists and turns coming up. I love, love, love! Fan theories. I actually feed off them; one of my roommates helped me perfect the idea I was rolling with for these people-snatchers. So if you have any thoughts, PLEASE tell me, I may like what you have better than what I was planning!
And as I write I find that sometimes things don't add up or I change how something happens, so if you're just reading as they're updated, you may not notice the changes to previous chapters I've made. Once I've brought this story to an end, I think I will repost it with completed edits.
On another note!
I have SEVERAL other stories I'm working on and am considering posting, but I don't know for SURE if I should quite yet. So I was hoping for some opinions. Here are the other works I'm running with also:
–An AU of The Sentinel's Squire where Nora lived instead of Nate (This also has an option of Kellogg not being killed and joining up with Nora, but it's not cannon yet and I wanted to see how people would feel about that). Instead of picking up after everything I wanted to run her though and see for myself how she would do the main quest line. Nora isn't based on a play through like Nate was, so she has more... freedoms? I don't know what word I'm looking for, but she's less likely to be as... stiff(?) as Nate can be. She also suffers from more flashbacks than he does, so if I do do this you can see what Nate was like Prewar, which could be really interesting if you like him enough. This means that a lot of things don't happen or happen very differently, though, like Madelyn and MacCready never becoming a thing IF they meet at all. I've had a lot of fun seeing how much Nora can change the Commonwealth compared to Nate.
–The Wastelander Rowan from some chapters back with the abusive boyfriend, Chad, taking a trip to Nuka World a year after the interaction she has in Sanctuary and becomes Overboss. Needless to say, Gage isn't a fan of Chad, and shit goes down. Rowan without Chad is QUITE the badass, but she has been under his thumb for YEARS, and even when she thinks she's shaken him, he keeps coming back somehow and ruins shit for her. This one takes place in the same universe as TSS and will probably reference things that happen in it to make it feel more real.
–Knight Reagan Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel. It would take place during the same time as The Sentinel's Squire, and include the part of this piece where she meets up with Nate, but would include her time at Danse's grave and her conversation with Mac. This piece leaves the Commonwealth though, and I venture into the Midwest where I and one of my roommates have tried to build up the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel. This work is long, as the plot doesn't kick in until they're in the Midwest and I started it when Reagan came to the Prydwen only a month or so before she spoke with Nate. (This one is from First Person point of view and jumps between her and Dire Dangerfield [not related to Madelyn but the reference is made] who is son of the Elder of the Midwest, and an Inquisitor. Ooh, such fun with this story)
–And lastly a piece I've been thinking about running is a Reagan and Danse story that would take place in the AU with Nora as Nora will no kill Danse like Nate did. The two of them would, obviously, not be apart of the Brotherhood, but I could see them doing a lot of the quests that Nate and even Nora never get around to, (Silver Shroud for one, I know she could talk Dansey into wearing that Grognak costume). But I haven't started this one yet, not officially at least.
If any of those sound interesting, please let me know! I LOVE writing, and I do it a bit more than I probably should... (My grades? Oh, I'm only failing one and a half classes...)
I hope this was a nice read for you, thank you for sticking around this long! I am so happy that I have written something that people seem to enjoy! It's why I write! I just want you to know how much this really means to me, and I hope the above information helps you understand the thoughts behind The Sentinel's Squire! If you have any questions you can totally PM me, and if it's not a spoiler I'll try to answer.
Enjoy! And Merry December! Any and all beliefs celebrated this month! I'm going to be celebrating my 21st birthday next week as well as have several papers and presentations due, so I don't know when the next post will be, so I wanted to get this one out there!
~Nekkra Mancey