Wow. That's a lot to process. You know, I just finished "What It's Worth" a few minutes ago. I was prepared for characters to die, but I wasn't expecting it quite so soon. Well, I was hoping you would put it off. Lol. Now, Cecilia isn't my favorite character (I think that has to be Arthur), but I do feel like I know her a little better than, say, Hattie or Dunstan, partly because of the fireworks incident and the separate story you posted for Cecilia.

I don't know if you intended for it to be this way or not, but I read some symbolism and metaphors into the story. For one, I found Reid's Apparition into the garden a bit of foreshadowing, in a way. There's a loud noise, and Cecilia mangles a flower. Later, there's a loud alarm, and people die. Secondly, Reid gives her a red climing rose . . . that could be symbolic of death.

Ok, enough of the fuzzy-wuzzy stuff. What I am certain about is that you crafted this chapter very deliberately. You shared Cecilia's plans and hopes for her future (also Reid's hopes, so we'll feel sad for him too) with the readers, you got us sympathizing with her . . . and then you snuffed her out. There she was, so full of life--"and then there was nothing more." Definitely this story has started with a bang. Excellent work.

Author's Response: Now you see why I was dragging my feet on finishing WIW. I really wasn't looking forward to doing this to Cecilia.

I didn't know that about the climbing rose, interesting. But I did intend for there to be a small parallel in those parts of the story. Sort of. That worked out better than I thought haha.

Yes, it was a very deliberate structure, to make her death that much more shocking, to her and the reader.

You know, I actually wrote the Cecilia-centric short story in part because she became such a popular OC and people wanted to know what had happened between her and Reid, and in part because I wanted to spend more time on her. She's been slated to die since about halfway through "Unsinkable". That was also part of why I went ahead and wrote a seventh-year story, I thought jumping straight into the elopement skipped too much character development, both for Molly and Arthur and for the OCs.

Anyway, thank you so much for the review! I'm planning to post the second half of this Tuesday. Nobody has yet thought of on whom it will focus, it seems. There is another important person in Cecilia's life other than Reid. ;)

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WHAT!!
this is just too sad, I basically cried. Cecilia died? What will Reid do?!!!
Please update asap!

Author's Response: :( Yes, she's gone. Reid's reaction won't be shown until "Over The Anvil". Can you guess who will be the focus of the second part of this story?

Thank you for reviewing!

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