Author Q&A (Answers) (Patreon)

General

Anonymous: Hi Lena! As an IF writer, how do you feel about the following: 1) choices that don’t result in an outcome favorable for the MC (not a game over though) 2) locking romances if the MC does something that really clashes with the ROs worldview/character. Do you view it as something risky/controversial, something you don’t see as necessary, something you’d prefer to avoid or, on the contrary, have in the writing? Or something entirely different? 

Answer: Hi anon, thanks for the very interesting questions!

1) Regarding choices that don't result in a favorable outcome for the MC:

I tend to not like "trick" choices that are intended to trap a player into getting a bad ending, like a "gotcha! that was the wrong choice, sucker! PSYCHE!" When I say this, though, I'm usually referring to choices that the player would have no reasonable way of knowing would lead to a bad outcome, like "Do you go through the right door or the left door?" and the left door leads into a pit of snakes and the player being poisoned, when there was no possible way to ascertain that beforehand.

However, I fully support unfavorable outcomes in IF games in general, mainly because I think favorable outcomes have less meaning or  impact if ALL outcomes are guaranteed to be positive anyway. It's sort of like that philosophy of how you can't truly appreciate and understand happiness without knowing what suffering is, as well? I find a game could get very boring without at least the possibility of unfavorable outcomes tied to your choices: choices don't mean much or have very high stakes if they don't (at least potentially) also result in unwanted or difficult paths. If all choices lead to positive outcomes, it kind of means you can just pick any choice, anyway, and there's no challenge in the game? It's sort of its own version of rail-roaded, and I think it can take away agency from the player!

In ShoH, I have a lot of unfavorable outcomes possible (*weird humble brag*), in both immediate choice results and in long-term endings, BUT with some general design caveats:

1) If there's a way to pick a choice and fail at it, there must also a way to succeed. No auto-fails! 

Ex: Trouble's life is in danger and you can choose to push him out of the way, throw something to deflect the killing blow, use your magic to shield him, or stand by and do nothing. If you choose to push him but lack the strength to succeed, he dies. If you choose to throw something but lack the sufficient stat or weapon, he dies. If you choose to shield him but lack enough magic, he dies. BUT if you have enough strength, magic, or the right stat/weapon, he lives! But none of those choices on their own are automatically wrong: like if choosing to push him were to always result in his death. It just all depends on your previous choices and stats!

2) Related to the above, if there are bad or unfavorable outcomes, there are ALWAYS ways to prevent or avoid them. I hold very firm to this. There are a lot of really bad endings and outcomes and results in the game, and some are even easy to get if you're careless, but I always make sure they're actually also preventable in some way. The difficulty of preventing them definitely varies and might hinge on some choice you made 9 chapters ago, but nothing is inevitable. You always have a chance to decide your own fate and outcome, even if that outcome is bad!

3) I do my best to ensure that negative outcomes follow some sort of logic that a reasonable reader could understand. They're not random, though in some cases it may take a playthrough or two to see why they happened. But it's not like "you didn't save this random bird in Chapter 5, so Tallys dies in the Epilogue"; it's like "a reasonable person could see why telling Chase this thing could result in your relationship taking a decrease or leading to a breakup." 

Of course, some decisions have such far-stretching consequences that I think a "ripple effect" will end up surprising some readers--but as I said, I hope in hindsight they'd be able to understand why that ripple happened!

2) Regarding locking players out of romances if MC does something that really conflicts with an RO's worldview/character:

I'm very solidly in this camp, though I understand why some people would not like it or prefer something different in their gameplay. Sometimes I even enjoy games where I can do anything (like taking some extreme choice) and knowing that my RO will love me no matter what, lol. 

But I truly feel like my characters are "real people" and treat them as such, so for me, it's natural for them to have some hard boundary or deal-breaker they absolutely won't tolerate. I try to put myself in their shoes or treat them as real-life friends: if I were interested in this person, or if I was starting to fall in love with my partner early on, but then they casually told me they'd have no problem killing children (or something lol), would that cause me to lose interest in them or stop liking them? Definitely! 

That's how I treat most of the ROs' reactions to things; so if Tallys and MC get into a disagreement over, say, Norms being terrible, she may never budge on that, but it's also not a deal-breaker for her, the same way being in an opposing political party might not not be a problem for some people dating. But I think it's realistic for others to have very firm morals they can't reconcile with a lover who violates them, and I really aim for realism when it comes to my characters and their reactions to things! 

So for those reasons, I do support locking romances according to certain (usually moral) extreme decisions, though these are very few and far between in the game. 

(If you want a spoilery example, [SPOILER] letting the Inquisitors have the children after rescuing them from the Equalists locks you out of a romance with Trouble forever. This is something he can never forgive you for, and certainly can't romance you after. [/SPOILER])

I know that this style of IF might displease people who want total freedom in their games, but I'm very passionate about you choices changing the story and choices having real effects, and sometimes that means unwanted effects as well!

AmnesiacRabbit: Is person's type of magic hereditary from predecessors or it's more dependant on personality/personal choice of a mage? Or a combination of those two or something completely different?

Answer: Hmmm it's sort of a mix? I compare it to someone having an affinity to art or math or medicine or music, or something. What caused someone to, say, want to be an artist? In some cases it seems hereditary or at least familial: they came from a family of artists. In some cases it was some experience they had in their childhood or a nurtured environmental influence. In some cases they just became very interested in it as adults for X Y Z reason (it was relaxing, or advantageous, or what have you). In some ways it seems to be completely innate, natural, or even genetic: there wasn't anything particularly in their childhood that seemed to point them towards art (their parents didn't take them to art galleries or send them to art class), they just seemed to naturally love art, even from a young age. 

Magic specializations are like that! It's definitely innate, but how or why the affinity manifests is totally random, just like our affinities towards certain careers or hobbies or interests. Sometimes whole families tend to specialize in one type of magic; sometimes five children from one family could have completely different specializations, sharing none with their own parents. It's all random! I hope that makes sense!

Anonymous: this is maybe odd, but- can you tell us a little more about how chase and red interact?? it seems like there's so much potential in their relationship ghsdj, former fuckboy and current fuckboy on the town 

Answer: Chase and Red are good friends! Chase is like "game recognize game" and is always trying to drag Red into trouble or reignite what he knows is his fuckboy past by having him play the wingman, while Red is either desperately trying to keep him out of trouble or long-sufferingly protesting, like:

Chase: "let's go out to the bars tonight, supposedly there's going to be a lot of beautiful people from [blah blah]"

Red: "haha no thanks, that's not really my scene"

Chase: "isn't it, though?" (knowing look) 

Basically it's a lot of sheepish denial on Red's part and a lot of "ohoho playing the shy guy, you sly dog??" on Chase's part!

Anonymous: Can we get fluff facts for lavinet?

Answer: 1) She tries to write love letters/love poems for MC, but is so used to being the one receiving them (and has never written them before) she ends up throwing them all away!

2) Her father bought her stepmother an insanely expensive silver brush and mirror set as a wedding gift. Lavinet would die if she were to ever receive this from MC! It's basically a declaration of undying love; a gift to a queen!

3) She would love it if MC were to brush her hair at the end of a long day; just a quiet, peaceful, loving moment!

Anonymous: In the opera Turandot, there is a beautiful princess who vows only to marry prince Calef if he passes certain tests: if the ROs were Turandot, what Trials would they set for MC, and if they were Calef, who would play the game and attempt the challenges set by MC!Turandot? 

Answer: In the Puccini opera, isn't it riddles, not trials, that the prince has to pass? I don't know much about the other versions, though!

Blade: a test of physical strength and nobility of character (like embarking on a dangerous quest)

Trouble: a test of courage and compassion (like overcoming a dangerous obstacle course in order to save somebody)

Tallys: a test of intelligence and resourcefulness (like a riddle)

Shery: I don't think she would set a test fgjfdg I guess it would be a test of knowing her as a person, like a personal question about her?

Riel: a test of wisdom and intelligence (like the poison cups in the Princess Bride)

Chase: a simple series of questions, a la Love Connection, to see if they pique his interest

Red: a test of creativity and intelligence (like a difficult fetch quest lol)

Ayla: a test of strength and might (like besting her in physical combat)

Briony: a test of character (like letting her read their memories to see who they really are as a person)

Lavinet: a test of loyalty and love (like challenging them to love her ardently even if she's transformed into an ugly hag)

It's hard to say who would play the game because it would require them being madly in love with MC at first sight, in the same way that Calef was over Turandot, and if that were the case, I'd say all of them would attempt to play?

Anonymous: the shepherds in a high school musical au where everyone’s in a faction and mc is Gabriella because uhhhh new kid yea ok that makes sense I guess

Answer: Sorry, I never saw High School Musical, so I don't think I'm equipped to populate this AU lol! D:

Question: So let's say that MC is out on a mission while Crushing Ro is not. A messenger tells Ro that MC didn't make it but wanted Ro to know MC loved them. Weeks later, MC comes back but is unaware that their feelings were told to Ro. How do the Ros react? 

Answer:

Pretends not to know anything to give MC the chance to tell them themselves:

Blade

Tallys

Riel

Red

Assumes the messenger was wrong if MC doesn't act any different upon their return:

Trouble

Shery

Approaches MC and tells them straight-up what the messenger said and waits to hear their reaction:

Ayla

Briony

Torments MC with a shit-eating, knowing grin but nothing else:

Chase

Lavinet

Question: How would the Ros react if they blacked out on a mission (from wounds) only to wake up to see MC on a bed in the same room as them. Then a healer tells them MC put themself in danger and was wounded because they refused to leave Ro behind to die and saved Ros life. 

Answer: All of them would feel eternal gratitude towards MC for saving their life, of course! In addition...

Blade: he'd be grateful, but he'd also feel immense guilt, and he'd do anything in his power to help MC recover as quickly as possible

Trouble: he'd climb into bed with MC and just be very grateful and affectionate towards them

Tallys: she'd shed a few tears and probably tell MC she loves them - life is too short to hold anything back!

Shery: she'd cry a lot and be so worried about MC and might even tell them they shouldn't have hurt themselves to save her!

Riel: he'd be grateful to MC but also grimly determined to ensure this never happened again

Chase: he'd be feeling a lot of different complex things, but he'd be very affectionate and loving towards MC first and foremost, and almost protective as well!

Red: he'd make light of the situation to cheer MC up, but would also express his heartfelt thanks to them

Ayla: she'd feel sort of guilty and scared and resentful that MC put themselves in such danger for her sake, but she'd cover it up with rough brusqueness, not really dwelling on it too much!

Briony: she'd climb into bed with MC and kiss their cheek while whispering "you idiot" and trying not to cry on them

Lavinet: she'd immediately get out of bed and set about making arrangements to make MC feel better as soon as possible, like hiring the best Healers and getting a dozen floral arrangements to brighten up their room!

Anonymous: How would the Romanced Ros react to MC admiting they thought they were straight before they met Ro. Except Lavinet and Blade ofc.

Answer: 

Trouble: (doesn't really know what to make of this) "oh... that's interesting?"

Shery: (confused and insecure) "wait you are attracted to women right?"

Tallys: (smirk) "I'm glad you realized otherwise"

Chase: (flattered) "I'm just that hot huh"

Riel: (disinterested noise)

Red: (flattered in an embarrassed way) "Um... thanks? I'll take that as a compliment?"

Briony: "I kind of did before I met you too!" (wink)

Ayla: "why? men are awful" (she's joking)

Anonymous: How would the Romanced!Ros react if they were talking and gesturing with their hands and accidently hit MC who was standing behind them in the face? 

Answer:

Blade: (crippling guilt) I have hurt the one I swore to protect. I have injured the love of my life

Trouble: (panic) OMG. OMG MC I'M SO SORRY. I DIDN'T SEE YOU. ARE YOU OKAY?????????????

Shery: (similar panic and crying)

Tallys: "oh, sorry. Are you okay?"

Riel: "I apologize, that was an accident. Let me see it. Does it hurt?"

Chase: "OOP. Sorry, love! Here, you can smack me back twice as hard" (offering his cheek as penance)

Red: (panic)

Ayla: "omg, sorry. but maybe don't stand right behind me?"

Briony: (panic and crying and frantic kissing of the 'wound')

Lavinet: "darling! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Why were you lurking right beind me, anyway? You know I hate it when people lurk"

Anonymous: How would the Ros react to a recruit saying "MC likes Ro!" really loud so everyone can hear it and MC just responds with "I thought everyone already knew that" 

Answer:

MC's response shoots them through the heart, punches them in the face, and leaves them stunned and speechless in the dirt:

Blade

Shery

They become panicky, confused, and flustered:

Trouble

Briony

They pretend they didn't hear this exchange or flat-out ignore it:

Riel

Red

Ayla

Casually says "yeah I thought everyone knew that" (thinks MC is joking)

Chase

Lavinet

I been knew

Tallys

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Spoilers

Anonymous: Sorry if this is a spoiler, but this can trigger crying panic attacks in me so... will there be any dog or cat deaths in the game?

Answer: There will be no dog or cat deaths in the game! We must protect our animal friends for all we're worth! There are mentions of other small animals [CONTENT WARNING] such as chickens or rabbits being sacrificed to the One-God in certain routes [/CONTENT WARNING], though, so please be aware of that and take care of yourself!

Anonymous: omg hAS BLADE HAD HIS FIRST I WANNA KISS MC THOUGHT YET?? What about Trouble?? Shery?? We know Tallys and Chase have bc they horny 

Answer: Blade just had his first kiss thought in my version of the alpha build but not yours! (It's when MC gets back from the Cave of Many Mouths and they're on a romance route together.) Trouble has not had a kiss thought yet, but has had a "whoa... MC is pretty/handsome..." awe moment (I think during the dance at Prihine's husband's gala in Chapter 2), Shery has not had a kiss moment yet, and Tallys was like "we'll bang, k?" moment when flirting in the tavern with her. Chase has had a stray "would love to sleep with MC" or "damn MC is smoking!" moment but not a specific "want to kiss" moment yet!

Katie: 1) Does MC have a canon name given to them by their biological parents?  2) What sort of illusion/scenario would the other ROs + Halek & Caine experience if they were trapped by Quiial?

Answer: 1) No, they do not have a canon "real" name!

2) Trouble - he'd be in a version of Haven where everyone hated him because he'd somehow screwed up so monumentally he'd successfully turned everyone in his life against him

Tallys - she'd be reliving the destruction of her clan :(

Shery - she'd be surrounded by voices (probably masquerading as the One-God) telling her how unworthy and pathetic she is

Riel - he'd be a child again, helpless and under the thumb of his parents

Briony - she'd be trapped in a scenario where she regained her memories, only to confirm her worst fears: either she left someone behind who was really counting on her and she forgot all about them (think: a dying parent needs her to journey across the sea to get a cure for their cancer... but Briony lost her memories and forgot and never brought them the cure... so they died wondering where she was and why she abandoned them), or finding out she was a really terrible person and forgot about it, like a mass murderer or something

Lavinet - she'd be in a dungeon cell, haggard, old, disgusting, while the faces of her rivals, friends, and family looked in on her in varying shades of disgust, smug satisfaction, and pity, being exhibited like an animal in a zoo cage

Halek - he'd be haunted by all the faces of the people who count on him, crying out for him to help as he just stands there, paralyzed, as they fade away

Caine - he'd have to watch either his mom die or MC and all of his friends die :( 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

NSFW

Anonymous: what do the shepherd’s sexual fantasies look like? like do they imagine a whole trashy-romance-novel scene leading up to the act or do they just imagine the sex itself? after starting their romance paths, how often do they think of mc in that way? 

Answer:

Blade: depends on his mood, he might daydream seductive sexy scenarios or just get flashes and images of MC's pleasured face and the sensations of having sex if he's just horny. Probably thinks about this every other day or so in a crushing stage, more frequently if MC is around a lot and doing things to provoke his imagination lol

Trouble: mostly thinks about the sex itself, not that frequently at first but then it ramps up to at least a few times every day, especially before going to bed!

Tallys: thinks about it literally all the time, mostly just jumping MC's bones and getting straight to business. I mean it. She thinks about it a lot.

Shery: leans more on the romance-novel-trashy-softcore-porn scenarios that are firmly in the realm of fantasy. In the privacy of her own mind they're erotic, but she's fully aware that trying to describe them in real life would make them sound silly (like her imagined responses to MC are very cheesy-porny). Only thinks of it when masturbating, which is probably every few days!

Riel: doesn't really fantasize about sex at all, and when he does, he gets kind of awkward and embarrassed about it and breaks off his thoughts like he's scared someone's going to know what he was thinking about lol

Chase: tends to fantasize more about ways to seduce MC (and their responses) rather than about the act itself. Surprisingly doesn't do this constantly, only when MC seems like they're flirting or are receptive to his flirtations and he gets to wondering...

Red: fantasizes about the act itself and just... very dirty things he'd be doing with MC, to his embarrassment, but also sometimes sexy scenarios and foreplay and whatnot occasionally. This crosses his mind at least a few times a week?

Ayla: tends to fantasize about the act itself but also very far-fetched scenarios when she gets "bored" of the current daydream, like being in a threesome with MC or various types of--not roleplay, exactly, but different scenarios, like she's a pirate captain and MC is her prisoner, or they're both mermaids,  something. Only as fodder for masturbating, though, not during the everyday routine!

Briony: she tends to bite her lip and think naughty thoughts about MC when she happens to catch a glimpse of them doing something unconsciously sexy or they're looking particularly good that day or something. Mostly just thinks about touching them or kissing them rather than any particular type of scenario, but sometimes fantasizes about the sensations of actual sex with them when she's really hot and bothered!

Lavinet: tends to only think about having sex with MC when she's already masturbating to thoughts of him, and when that happens she's concentrating on the sensations and feelings of the act rather than particular scenarios!

Answer: could you do the nsfw alphabet for shery? 

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex) She's very cuddly and generally likes to doze off afterwards!

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s) She likes her long hair and thinks her bust is passably large enough! Her favorite body part of her partner's is her lips and eyes!

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person) She's a squirter (does that count as cum? They're lesbians, Harold)

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs) Has fantasized about MC fucking her with a double-sided vibrator

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?) She's a virgin and hasn't even kissed anybody, but her mind is not that virginal lol!

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual) Anything where she's on the bottom? She tends to prefer facing MC rather than being fucked from behind though!

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc) She's very into it and not inclined to joke around during sex, she's enjoying it too much!

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.) Shaved down there, and the carpet does match the drapes!

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)  She tends to be very intimate and loves to just gently touch and stroke every inch of her partner's body

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon) She could masturbate every day but tries to refrain to a few times a week because of the sin gfdlgd just kidding, it just tires her out a lot

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks) I think lingerie and sexy outfits would be her weakness, along with possibly light bondage... and she's also a sucker for hot springs scenarios!

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do) She's happy with anything that's absolutely private: she's too distracted and anxious if it's anywhere to do with the public. Additioanlly, she'd prefer a bed, thank you very much!

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going) Even the slightest touch, like the gentlest trailing of the fingers across her thigh, or playing with her hair teasingly, can set her off and make her think absolutely filthy thoughts! 

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs) She'd refuse anal sex and anything to do with pain or exhibitionism!

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc) She loves receiving and it drives her absolutely wild! She's game to give, but can't keep it up for very long before wanting more, so the ideal partner would come quickly from her giving oral lol!

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.) It depends on her mood, it's probably 50/50 slow and sensual or fast and wild!

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.) She likes quickies and is so sensitive that she comes quite quickly--the trouble is staying quiet! But she likes quickies as an occasional thing--she tends to like separating work and play though!

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.) She's not very game to experiment: her imagination can run wild to very adventurous scenarios, but when it comes to real life, she's more timid and tends to enjoy regular sex over lots of experimentation!

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…) She likes one or two times before passing out! An especially torturous partner can keep her going for multiple rounds, but they'd have to take charge and dominate, and coax her for more each time lol!

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?) She owns a vibrator that's like very hidden away! She wouldn't feel he urge to introduce toys into sex with MC unless that's what her partner wanted themselves. In that case she'd be very enthusiastic about it!

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease) She's not inclined to tease and dutifully and obediently wants to pleasure her partner without torturing them, but is very fun to tease and torment!

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make) She's quite loud and can't contain her moans, whimpers, and gasps, even if MC is just lightly touching her. If pressed she can bite her hand and stay silent, but it's difficult!

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice) She can't take a hot bath without getting aroused and wanting to touch herself for some reason, a fact that MC can very easily exploit

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words) Exquisite pussy energy and surprisingly very nice curves

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?) She is happy to come every day, but actual sex is probably best a few times a week rather than constantly!

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards) She likes to fall asleep while being cuddled within twenty minutes of finishing!

Thank you for sending in your questions, and have a great rest of your May!