Steve-C2

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 17-18 (Final) by Steve-C2, literature

Literature

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 17-18 (Final)

Ray’s week was tremendously busy. He contacted his stockbroker to liquidate assets and began selling off most of his possessions. He removed the gate to the Fey realm that had been installed at his house. He finalized some contracts through the week and informed the office that he would not be taking any more clients. He let them know that he was retiring early and purchasing property in the country. At the end of the week he wore a bittersweet smile as he watched the large desk leave his office. He had always dreamed of an early retirement, and what Idriel had given him so many years ago, in exchange for his oath, had allowed for that. However, he had not imagined that it would be like this. He appointed a representative to handle his financial affairs. The thing that he so earnestly coveted years ago was now nothing but an unimaginable burden. Ray contacted a realtor to sell his house and gave him strict instructions to deal only with his

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 16 by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 16

Ray was sober and ready to meet them when they arrived on the following day. He had considered some liquid courage, but decided against it. A glass of water was on his desk. He stood in front of his desk, waiting for the knock. He opened the door and invited them in when they came, then returned to the front of the desk. Robin wore the usual business attire she had. Idriel had on a dark purple shirt with a deep blue skirt that flattered her form. It pained Ray to see her so he focused on Robin. “How can I help?” “How can – Ray, what is wrong with you?!” Robin was incredulous. “You’ve married Idriel, you promise to be with her, which is by your own confession exactly what you want. Then you fulfill the contract and suddenly you leave! Let us not forget your retreat when you discovered that she was pregnant. By the divine, what gives?” Ray looked at Robin with what he hoped was justified indignation. “I realized that the

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 12-15 by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 12-15

Idriel received Ray quite warmly on his return. He cut back slightly on his extra work to ensure that he spent each night with her, even while it pained him to do so. He hated to admit that there was a part of him that hoped there was a mistake. As much as he would have liked having children, it should not have been possible. He could only conclude that if Idriel was with child, it was not his. He at one point ashamedly hoped – and stopped himself from further thought of the same – for a miscarriage. He settled on thinking that Idriel was just gaining weight. However, Idriel was an athletic individual who had a well-toned physique. She was not the type to just gain weight. Nonetheless, he kept sane by ignoring the growing child. Ray didn’t ask about the health of the child or Idriel; he was informed on a regular basis that both were healthy, and everything was going well. This news he received happily, in as much he did not wish ill on anyone.

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 10 - 11 by Steve-C2, literature

Literature

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 10 - 11

Ray was welcomed warmly into Idriel’s realm – the Fey realm. A simple ceremony acknowledged their commitment to each other. That was followed by a small gathering of Idriel’s friends and family. They understood and respected that he still had to traverse to his own world because he was still working there. He, Robin, and Idriel set a gate to Idriel’s realm in a spare room of Ray’s house. This gate could be opened with an amulet that Idriel gave to him. Ray continued his work and took his meals at home. He could not eat Fey food or remain there for 24 hours, else he would not be able to return. As a result, he would bring enough food for him to have an evening snack, breakfast, and a bottle of water. They did well together. Idriel tolerated his lack of presence, understanding his limitations. However, his daily absence and limited time with her resulted in his failure to notice things. A few months after the ceremony, he finally saw a

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 8-9 by Steve-C2, literature

Literature

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 8-9

Ray and Idriel sat beside a stream in some woods that were designated as a nature preserved. She had suggested the location. He had forgotten about fresh air and sunshine since he had been largely indoors from his time in secondary school and going forward. Going into the woods felt like opening an attic that had been closed for years. The dust and cobwebs in his mind seemed to start fading. Idriel had found a comfortable spot for them to sit and she watched with a smile as he soaked in the sun and breeze, and enjoyed the fresh scents of the forest. Then she spoke. “Robin and I spoke today.” He sat up more. “Oh?” “Yes. I know what transpired.” She spoke nonchalantly. “Oh. I see.” He worried slightly. “I am only saying this because you do not have to hide it. If you feel the need to talk about it, you can.” She was leaned back against the roots of a tree. “So you’re

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 7 by Steve-C2, literature

Literature

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 7

Each week, Ray met with Idriel. Part of the agreement indicated that they were to first determine and confirm that they would be suitable together. The first four meetings were surprisingly awkward. Ray had known Idriel since he was a boy, and when she checked in periodically through the years she had always been pleasant. They were friends first and foremost. However, she had lately been trying to enforce a contract instead of being a friend, and neither of them forgot that role. Even after they began seeing each other as friends again the meetings remained a chore to him. He felt it was something that he had to schedule, like a court appearance. At least the dread was going away. The meetings had been ongoing for five months when he had a visitor. It was the night before he was supposed to see Idriel. “Come in!” Robin entered, smiling warmly. “Hello!” Ray sighed. “What is it, Robin.”

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 6 by Steve-C2, literature

Literature

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 6

Robin and Idriel were in Ray’s office two days later. He had arranged his glasses of water and liquid courage on opposite sides of his desktop. Robin placed a parchment on his desk. “We reviewed everything. To be clear; as you said when you first presented this to us – this does not change that you have a debt to us or the nature of the debt. What this does accomplish is create an environment in which the debtor and creditor will work together in order to fulfill the debt. Are we all clear in understanding this and in agreement to this?” Idriel had a slight smile on her lips. “Yes, I understand and agree.” Robin looked at Ray. “You wrote this, so I presume that you agree as well. We took the liberty of adding an amnesty clause. There are no limits to its use. If either party violates the blood oath, in part or in whole, no matter to what degree, they may ask for amnesty and continue as though no offense had been

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 5 by Steve-C2, literature

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 4 by Steve-C2, literature

Literature

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 4

Ray found ways to be relatively unavailable over the next couple of days. He set quiet classical music on his radio in the office and reviewed upcoming documents. He found himself unable to concentrate He had never imagined that Idriel would react the way that she did. Even though she was not due to visit for a couple of days, he noticed that having tea at night did not have its usual effectiveness as a sleep aid and he opened the brandy. He probably expected offense, but not for her to do as she did. He wondered if she attacked him, then thought at if she had it would have hurt. He decided that what she did was out of character for her. She must have taken such offense at one of the suggestions that it would not be taken. He doubted that they would entertain looking for someone for him. That left two options. He hoped that they would surrender their claim. Still, he had pulled the money representing what they gave to him out of investments and

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 2-3 by Steve-C2, literature

Literature

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 2-3

Ray had accidently come across information about why the Fae asked for the firstborn, years after making the deal. Before he made the discovery, he resigned himself to celibacy. After all, how could he explain to the mother of the child, that she needed to surrender the child to settle a foolishly made debt from his own childhood? Then he discovered what they wanted. They needed slaves. They had servants but did not want to subject their own kind to that work. It would be easier to raise a human into the role, than it would be to convince an older person to accept it. It was slavery. After discovering that, he had two reasons to not have any children. Besides, what if he only had one? That person would be a slave to the Fae and neither he nor the mother would ever see it. He refused to make a contribution to their system; he refused to have a child so they could use and abuse that person. He discovered the rules for dealing with the Fae, at

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 17-18 (Final) by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 17-18 (Final)

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 16 by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 16

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 12-15 by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 12-15

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 10 - 11 by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 10 - 11

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 8-9 by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 8-9

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 7 by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 7

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 6 by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 6

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 5 by Steve-C2, literature

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 4 by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 4

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 2-3 by Steve-C2, literature

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Bargaining an Oath - Ch 2-3

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Deviation Spotlight

Snapshots in Dystopia No 01 by Steve-C2, literature

Literature

Snapshots in Dystopia No 01

Josh had heard the term “egghead” but he hadn't imagined one, much less seen one, until he had started working with a particular clerk at the stables. The overall appearance of the man's head was that of a slightly elongated, and top-rounded, egg. This was enhanced by the fact the man had no hair on his scalp, and a scant thinning line around the edges. Moreover, it was an ugly egg. His eyes were deep set, surrounded by dark circles. Half-moon spectacles sat halfway down his hawk nose. His somewhat large ears sprang away from his head slightly, and his thick lips formed a gash of a mouth which seemed to be in a constant, practic

Snapshots in Dystopia No 01

Steve-C2

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About Steve-C2

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United States
Deviant for 11 years

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Favourite Visual Artist

MC Escher, most classical artists

Favourite Movies

Amazing Grace, Gettysburg, Frozen, Defiance, Valkyrie, Steamboy

Favourite TV Shows

Doctor Who, Big Bang Theory, Last Exile, LE: Fam the Silver Wing

Favourite Bands / Musical Artists

Abney Park, Lindsey Stirling

Favourite Writers

Edgar Allen Poe, Jack London, James Thurber

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Axis & Allies

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Pen, pencil, paper, eraser, computer

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History, Punography, Anime (creeping in there)

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Steve-C2

Apr 24, 2022

Expanding Isn't Comfortable.

3 min read

It's been a little while since I've posted a journal. I hope everyone is well. Me? I work, I do chores, and I try to do a little bit of goofing off. I've been a little, well, I don't want to say inspired, but maybe that's a good word for it? I wrote out Bargaining an Oath, which I shared here, I have another story written out but not yet typed, and I'm in the middle of working on another that I haven't titled yet but is a character development piece. While doing that I decided to move into writing stuff that I haven't written before and as usual I am wondering if people can tell that I wasn't comfortable writing during the bits that I wasn't comfortable writing. Go figure. I Bargaining an Oath was written from a reddit writing prompt. I'm sure that the person who set the prompt intended the resulting stories to be just a few short paragraphs. Somehow, my idea took off. And in the process, I decided that I would write something that I was uncomfortable writing: one of the

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Steve-C2

Jan 13, 2022

Seriously, Guys?

1 min read

I've been posting the chapters of a -gasp- completed story recently, called "Bargaining an Oath." A guy makes a deal with the Fey and wants out of it, challenges ensue. It's a blood oath (he signed it in blood), and it's already been stated twice in the story that people aren't released from oaths lightly, never from such a one as his. Chapter 6 is the latest installment and after barely 4 days has 24K views, a dozen times more than the second-most read of my pieces, and that isn't even the beginning of the other series that I started. I'd be a little :happybounce: but so far I'm not seeing a lot of actual interest. Still no comments, either.:shifty: It's also the second chapter in a row that I tagged with "seduction" and "seductivefemale" Please don't tell me that's the only reason that people are reading this. And the seduction in that chapter is noticeably milder than the one in the previous chapter, which I marked as mature. :grump: I dunno. Should I bother sharing

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Steve-C2

Dec 10, 2021

Critmas 2021

4 min read

Tagging @BATTLEFAIRIES so she can tell me if I messed up. Also because I have 117 stray points laying around that I'll be happy to donate as a prize, please tell me what to do to accomplish that. (wait a minute... :-o ) Anyway. I am opening the following galleries fully for critique: https://www.deviantart.com/steve-c2/gallery/43469869/sketch - Disclaimer: This is old stuff. OLD I tell ya. I haven't sketched in years. But on the off chance you find something interesting, yay me I guess. TBH this commenting on this gallery is me asking "Hey, how'd I do?" https://www.deviantart.com/steve-c2/gallery/43469289/photos - Disclaimer: See above disclaimer. I have much newer equipment now and I haven't shared anything from it yet. Most of the stuff there was taken on an economy model point-and-shoot; I currently have a DSLR and am doing some light astrophotography. https://www.deviantart.com/steve-c2/gallery/45935141/shorts-dm-related - Disclaimer: It is not necessary to know

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Lily-Lucid

Apr 21, 2022

Hey there! Hope you're well! You up to anything new lately?

Just letting you know I'm about to publish a book!

Steve-C2

Edited Apr 21, 2022

Congratulations on getting published!

I wrapped up a series - it was supposed to be a short story, based on a writing prompt on reddit - and it turned into a 42 page piece. I shared it here, starts at

Literature

Bargaining an Oath - Ch 1

“No,” Ray said calmly, and sipped from the cup of

I should mention that I nudged myself into an area that I wasn't comfortable with - one character was trying to seduce another character.

I also wrote a story called Impromptu Date that I started to write before Halloween last year and just finished a couple of days ago. Writing took that long not for length of story, but for the fact that it got "back burnered" for a while. In that one I was trying to expand into an area that I didn't feel comfortable with - writing an encounter of a sexual sort. I started typing up that one when another one came to mind so I stopped typing and started writing. What I'm working on right now is a story to develop a character from the Dragon Mage series. I put the series itself on a somewhat permanent hiatus, but sometimes I'll go back to a character or develop the world a little.

So that's what I'm up to right now.

Sounds cool!

Hey there, you up to anything lately? And do you post your writing on any other sites?

Steve-C2

Mar 8, 2019

Hello! I can't say I've written anything lately, though I have more than a couple of ideas swimming around. A couple of them would require a bit more of a time investment ... *sigh*

I did complete something a while back and I wouldn't mind having someone look at it with an eye for publication because instead of posting on DA I want to go and publish it. I did share the first few chapters here: Oskar's Automata - Chapters 1 - 3 and Oskar's Automata - Chapter 4. I hate asking, yet I ask, if you wouldn't mind looking at the latest revision of the whole story?

Otherwise, I don't put my writing elsewhere. I wouldn't mind putting it where it could get some feedback, and maybe I can improve some work to publication standards. At the same time I wonder if it would be possible to publish something that I've already shared here (and elsewhere, if it comes to it.) Any thoughts?

I hope you're well!

fvhn

Mar 23, 2019

Sorry for the suuuuper slow reply!

I'd love to check out what you wrote, and I'm happy to give feedback if you want it :3

I've been trying to find places to put my writing that I could get feedback, but the only noteable one seems to be wattpad, and the average quality on there (at least that I find) is ..eck...

As far as I know, if you were to seek publication of something that's posted on DA, they might have you delete it as part of their agreement to publish it, but I don't think it would prevent you from getting anything published. I know a lot of stories I've seen on other writing sites will have the first chapter, and then something along the lines of "I've been published! You can read the rest of the story by purchasing my book here!"

Steve-C2

Mar 23, 2019

That's okay. I have a few things in my own inbox ... heh ...

If you'd like to look, here you are:

Oskar's Automata IThe shop with its walls displaying clocks, music boxes (with and without dancers), and other gearwork contraptions among its shelves, was quiet. An older man leaned against the frame of an open doorway into another room behind the shop. Customers could if they tried, glimpse into the interior if the door was open when they were present. Usually all that would be visible is a back wall, lined with shelves, except for a window at the top of the room. The wall opposite the tool and equipment laden shelves contained a workbench, behind which currently sat a dark-haired teen. Shelves and trays of small pieces requiring a magnifying lens to see stacked on either side of the middle of the workbench. The teen bent intently over the instrument in his hand. He checked its parts, ensuring everything was in its place and working. Satisfied, he handed it to the wiry man who had been watching him.
The man was older and more experienced, having just slightly more years on him to be the teen’s f

Oskar's Automata II§
Oskar introduced Celeste with the usual bit of fanfare at the theater. He was once again surprised when, after a he extended the invitation for audience members to inspect the model, the model raised an arm and indicated the audience members. They were allowed to feel the soft torso and limbs. They agreed Celeste had a more lifelike feel.
The three “sisters” danced, singly and together. As part of the show, people were called out of the audience to dance with the different models. Anna and Celeste seemed to be especially responsive to the movements of their dance partners.
After the show at the theater, Oskar returned to his house with Anna and Celeste. “You two have some more work tonight.” He set them behind a curtain he had set across the back of the large front room. On the other side was a busy, boisterous tavern atmosphere. “Perfect.”
Oskar stepped around the back and emerged on the side of the curtain. Some patrons saw him and shouted a

I'll let you read ... anything I say may spoil things. I'm always game for some good feedback.

Honestly, that's what I would do. "Here's a first chapter preview, if you want the rest, buy the book!"