Some Thoughts On Gaius And Kamilah’s Relationship

Please let this be a foreshadowing of their future together.

On Kamilah's behaviour for the last two chapters of BloodBound Book 2

Note: Hello, everyone. I've been a fan of Choices for a while now, but for the most part, I've just been silently observing and scrolling thtough Tumblr. Lol. Anyway, I just wanted to post my take on Kamilah Sayeed from BloodBound. Hehe.

At first, I was really pissed and annoyed that the MC wasn't able to spend any meaningful time with her during the last two chapters. (This is because she's my MC's LI.)

But upon further reflection, I think that her actions and attitude are understandable as well as are in character.

Here are the reasons why:

First and foremost, it was already established from the very start of the series that Kamilah is not generally considered to be a warm person. Apart from this, the character herself admitted that her years as a vampire have made her jaded and distant. Before meeting the MC, the only other person she genuinely cared for was Adrian - who she sees as a brother, and even with him, she's reserved and stern most of the time. However, despite the fact that she does not always show him warmth, Kamilah has shown that she truly cares greatly for Adrian - this is evidenced by the efforts and lengths she went through in Book 1 in order to protect and save him when he was sentenced to be executed for allegedly causing the feral attacks.

The point here is that while Kamilah is not generally expressive, she genuinely does care about those who are close to her and will do all that she can to protect them.

Second of all, the main plot of Book 2 revolves around Gauis and his return. As we all know, Gauis intends to rule the world and use humans as constant sources for food supplies. Kamilah and the rest of the council are more than aware of how powerful Gauis is and that he will stop at nothing to achieve his plan. This fact in itself is more than enough to cloud the mind of any vampire who has ever known Gauis personally.

But with regard to Kamilah - it would be completely understandable if she is the one most troubled by his return. Among the vampires who are known by the readers to have been recruited/Turned by him, Kamilah was actually the first. Not only that, she was also his lover at some point. On this, Kamilah herself admitted in the story that because of the fact that she loved him, she became blind to his lust for power and his willingness to do anything and everything to gain it.

This could be an indicator of her wariness and fear of Gauis's deception and charm - for centuries, she stood by him as his Queen because she was, in a way, under his spell. She fell for his charms, but when she finally saw the evil that lurked inside of him, the spell was broken and she turned against him.

All of these things considered, the curtness and reservation that Kamilah has shown in the latest chapters is understandable in more ways than one. On this, the fact that she hasn't spent any meaningful time with or paid much attention to the MC as of late (at least on screen) is also understandable.

She is shaken by Gauis's return. And her past experiences with him only seem to have further aggravated her worries. This, along with her nature - remember, she is generally reserved and is not usually expressive of her feelings in public (except for feelings of irritation and anger), is a logical and realistic reason as to why she is acting the way she does now.

But this does not mean that she does not care about the MC. For all those romancing her, she has expressly told the MC (in a diamond scene) that she cares greatly for the latter and is worried about their safety. And at the end of Book 1, at the end of the final diamond scene with her, she told the MC that she thinks that she was searching for them (the MC) and did not even know it.

The mere fact that Kamilah shared her apprehensions and opened up to the MC is a clear indicator that she genuinely cares - especially given her usually cold and stern demeanour. Based on the diamond scenes with her, it seems that she feels more comfortable expressing herself to the MC when the two of them are alone. If she didn't care at all, then she would have never had said those things.

Also, in relation to Kamilah's reaction to the MC being kidnapped, it was evident that she was shaken by the fact that Gauis had escaped from the Onyx Sarcophagus. So, it is understandable that her mind was troubled and pre-occupied by his return. However, her concern for the MC was also shown when she solemnly promised the latter that those who were responsible for the kidnapping will pay.

So, while we all wish for PB to have Kamilah be more affectionate with the MC (especially in public), I think that her recent actions and reactions are realistic for her character. While it isn't outrightly obvious, she truly does care.

Reunited

I noticed that some people posted that they wanted to see Adrian, Jax, and Lily react to Kamilah and the MC’s kiss at the Prague airport. So, I decided to try writing out this idea of mine. Hehe. I hope that you all like it. :)

Note: This is a modified version of the reunion scene at the end of Chapter 9.

-----

Amy’s POV

As you head towards the exit, you immediately see two familiar faces.

"Lily! Kamilah!"

The purple-haired vampire's expression brightens upon seeing you. "Amy! Girl, am I glad to see your face!"

Right next to her, Kamilah smiles at you – relief and happiness gracing her features. "And I'm glad to see that you're not hurt."

You take in the sight of Kamilah smiling warmly at you. You start rushing over to her. When you're only about a few steps apart, she holds out her arms, and you fall into her embrace as you finally close the gap between the two of you.

"Amy..." she begins murmuring into your hair, "... I was so worried."

"I'm alright, Kamilah." You reply as you pull away slightly to face her. "Especially now that you're here."

You take her face in your hands and kiss her firmly – grateful that you're together again. She reciprocates by brushing her lips insistently against yours and pulling you closer.

She breaks away after a few seconds. "I've missed you, Amy." She breathes against the corner of your mouth.

"I've missed you too, Kamilah. Let's never be apart again."

She smiles at you. "It's a promise."

You lean your head against her shoulder... And that's when you notice your other friends looking at you in shock.

Lily's mouth is agape. "Wait a minute..."

Jax stares at you with wide eyes. "W...what?"

Adrian looks stunned for a few moments before eventually shaking himself out of his stupor.

"Well... I had hoped that you two would become close... But I never thought that you would become this close."

You take in their reactions and feel a blush form on your cheeks. But before you can form a response, Kamilah speaks.

"You know what they say, brother." Kamilah smiles amusedly – unfazed by the reactions. "'Be careful what you wish for.'"

Lily finally recovers. "Hold up! Since when did this happen?!"

Jax blinks a few times before speaking. "Yeah... Uh. It's not really any of my business, but I definitely did not see this coming."

Kamilah raises a hand. "Now is not the time for such questions." She begins to disentangle herself gently from you, and you pull away so that she can turn to the others.

"We have more pressing matters to discuss, such as getting the Eye of Bathory."

Adrian clears his throat. "Kamilah is right. We have to focus on our goal."

"Thank you, Adrian. It's good to see you again, by the way." She strides toward him to hug him tightly. "I'm sorry about what happened in Paris." She adds softly.

Adrian sighs wearily but firmly returns the embrace. "Truth be told... I've been better... But it's good to see you again, too, Kamilah."

When they pull apart, Adrian manages to give her a small yet playful smile. "But you and Amy still have some explaining to do later."

"Yeah, girl!" Lily exclaims while pointing her index finger at you. "You got some serious BFF explaining to do!"

You laugh while Kamilah just rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Anyway, we best leave for my office. We have much to discuss."

You fall into step with Kamilah as you exit the airport. You find yourself glancing around nervously, looking for anyone who might be working for the Order.

As if noticing your anxiety, Kamilah slips her hand into yours and grips it gently. You smile and squeeze back – thankful for her presence.

Masterlist

Hello, everyone. I decided to organize my stories by creating a masterlist with links for easier and more convenient access.

BloodBound:

Kamilah Sayeed x MC

The Brightest Light

Fears, Doubts, and Apprehensions

Mistakes (Part 1)

Mistakes (Part 2)

A Moment Alone

The Promise

Reunited

Note: I will update this masterlist whenever I post new stories. :)

Apology Note

Hello, everyone. I've been reviewing my posts, and I've noticed that some of them contain grammatical errors and typos. On this, I want to apologize. I promise to be more thorough with my proofreading and editing processes in the future. Sorry again. :(

Some BloodBound Book II and III Parallels

On the left: Chapter 10: The Plan, Book 2 - Kamilah tells the MC that she doesn't think that she could bear to lose her mortal lover.

On the right: Chapter 1: The Hunger, Book 3 - Kamilah tells the MC that she refused to accept that she had lost the latter.

On the left: Chapter 16: The End, Book 2 - Kamilah laments that they didn't have enough time.

On the right: Chapter 1: The Hunger, Book 3 - Kamilah expresses that having more time with the MC feels like a miracle.

I was honestly pissed that the writers didn't have her say 'I love you' directly, but it's obvious that Kamilah's love for the MC is reflected in both her words and actions.

I love these two together and I'm excited to see more tender and loving scenes featuring that two of them.

This scene was a slow emotional burn for me. I love these two together.

Reminders and tips for everyone including myself. Hehe.

some mini collections of tips for writers

(based on things that yours truly notices as a freelance editor. This list is in no way complete, and will probably be added to as I continue to find repeated mistakes) 

Dialogue

Use beats in your dialogue to break it up. Even “said” can make a very effective beat between lines. 

(No beats: “It’s not lethal. Just highly dangerous with a good chance of being mutilated.” // Beats: “It’s not lethal,” he said. “Just highly dangerous with a good chance of being mutilated.”)

Note how the break allows a bit of a pause for ~dramatic effect 

thinking of dialogue, use punctuation and distinct speech patterns! “Life, uh, finds a way.” is an iconic line anyway, but Jeff Goldblum’s signature verbal tic gives it character. 

It’s okay if characters stutter. Don’t let the condemnation of stuttering characters as “cringey” in fanfic put you off. (and on that note, fuck cringe culture. Seriously. It saps all the fun out of creativity and fun is important.)

Start! A! New! Line! Whenever! Someone! New! Speaks!!

DO NOT FEAR THE WORD “SAID” 

Setting & Blocking

 Use the landscape and settings around your character, and always, always remember a scene’s blocking. Where is everything in relation to your characters? Have you left someone holding a coffee cup for the last three scenes? Did you lose a character somewhere along the way? 

using the contents of a scene is also great for fight sequences. 

Similarly, large character casts are hard to keep track of so don’t be afraid to break them up. Sending someone off somewhere else can create some nifty little subplots. 

Keep a personal note of how time passes. Trust me, it’s incredibly helpful to you as a writer and also for future readers. 

Characters

Character growth does not have to be positive. Sometimes characters fail or suffer or get their motivations twisted up, and they finish the book as a villain rather than a hero. 

All that matters is that a character changes throughout the plot in a way that readers can see; the sort of change they go through is entirely up to you. 

scrap the idea that someone has to deserve a redemption arc. They probably don’t deserve it, which is the whole point. So don’t be afraid to make your villains seem completely irredeemable. 

and you don’t need to redeem your antagonists in order to make them complex, sympathetic villains, anyway. Sometimes people get so stuck in their beliefs that they can’t see another way and it goes too far. Not everyone comes back from that. 

Also, motivations and goals can absolutely change. That’s okay. You just need to have something that drives your character so that your readers are rooting for them. 

Protagonists don’t need to be heroic. How you define the protagonists and antagonists in your story is based entirely on the morality in your story-world, NOT the moral ideas in the real world. What counts as a complex protagonist in a world torn apart by biological warfare will be very different than one living in our world. 

Prose & Grammar

simple prose is just fine and you don’t need to fluff it up for pretty quotes.

Remember to vary your sentence structures and length. Start smaller and build it up, drawing your reader’s attention. 

“And” and “But” are very valid sentence starters that are great for communicating the tone of internal narrative. You’re allowed to tweak grammar if that’s helpful for telling the story, it just needs to be accessible. Test out what you’ve written on other people. 

Check that your tenses are consistent!! 

On the left: The MC during the moment before she parted with Kamilah in Chapter 6. During the said moment, the MC promised Kamilah that they'd have more intimate moments together.

On the right: Kamilah during the moment she reunited with the MC in Chapter 9. During their reunion, Kamilah promised that the two of them would never be apart again.

I love the parallelism.

In the tapestry fragment scene of Chapter 5 of Bloodbound Book 3, the group mourns and remembers the MC who had seemingly died after it appeared that the Turning process had failed.

IN THIS SCENE, KAMILAH SAYEED FINALLY ADMITTED AND DECLARED THAT SHE LOVES THE MC!

I'm kinda disappointed that she hasn't said it directly to the MC in person yet, but the fact remains that she loves her!