Author Answers (December) (Patreon)

General

Trouble, bless him. 😂 How obvious in the land of blatancy would MC have to get to break through the "hey, MC is just my buddy" fog that Trouble lives in? Is he this oblivious to all types of advances or just MC's?

Things Trouble thinks friends can do:

• Sitting in his lap
• Cuddling while cold
• Putting their head on each other's shoulder
• Kissing on the cheek - a lot
• Nuzzling
• Piggyback rides
• Sleeping in the same bed (with the right excuse)
• Spooning in the same bed (with the right excuse)
• Skinny-dipping
• Changing clothes in front of each other casually
• Wearing each other's clothes
• Slapping each other's butts
• Putting your feet in his lap
• Saying "I love you" in a casual way

Things that make Trouble realize that something else is going on:

• Kissing him
• Leaning really close to his face and staring at his lips or into his eyes for way too long
• Unbuttoning the top part of his shirt and playing with his chest
• Undressing in front of him seductively
• Saying in a serious voice or situation "I love you," "I'm in love with you," "I have romantic feelings for you," or "I like you" (but like... right before a kiss or in a romantic/serious atmosphere)
• Finding a letter written in MC's hand that says to some effect "I'm in love with Trouble but I don't know what to do because he's being so dense about it"

He's not totally oblivious if like a random stranger is hitting on him; they have to come on pretty strong, but he gets the hint pretty quickly! He may not act like he does in order to escape an awkward situation, though! Part of the reason why he's so oblivious with MC is because they're friends and he doesn't want to jeopardize their friendship by making wrong assumptions, so he errs (extremely heavily) on the side of caution. When it comes to strangers, though, there are no stakes, so he can interpret their advances quite normally!

If each RO could have a pet that best matched their personality, what would it be? (Can hear Lavinet now, "a crystal cat embedded with jewels because they are easy to clean up after" 😂)

I answered what kind of pets they'd have here and here, but hmm the ones that best match their personality?

Blade: a wolf-like hunting hound

Trouble: a German Shepherd-like working hound

Tallys: I feel like her personality is a cat's, but I think her aesthetic is either some sort of deer or even a horse?

Shery: definitely a mouse or a fluffy hamster!

Riel: if it matched his personality, I would say a rat, but I think Riel would never own a rat in his entire life. Possibly a monkey! I don't think he'd really tolerate any animal that could create a mess, honestly, so maybe fish lol...

Chase: definitely a black cat that wanders the streets on its own adventures and then comes inside to eat and sleep!

Red: I think his owl fits him pretty well (though I think he'd have a younger and less cranky one if he could) but something like a lemur would fit him too!

Ayla: I always think she'd own a lizard because of her aesthetic, but if we're going by personality alone, I think she'd own a fierce hawk!

Briony: Her daemon would be an otter, so that's always what I think for her, but realistically I could see her owning something cuddly like a puppy that grew into a surprisingly huge dog (like a St. Bernard) or something off-the-rails insane like a dragon

Lavinet: I'm torn on her! A peacock? A long-haired cat? Supposedly her personality is that of a pot-bellied pig's fdlkjgdlkfgjfdg I can also for some reason see her owning a unicorn!

I have to know............How much money is actually necessary to be considered noveau riche?

I am notoriously bad at economic descriptions (I keep changing the value of a deucalion as you can tell) so I'm going to say 100,000 deucalions is the minimum you'd need to join the wealthier merchant clubs, and even then they'd be like "haha MC has so little money they're only considered wealthy, not rich lol"

How does RO!(Adult!)Red handle an MC who's *really* good in abjuration and warding? Like specialist levels of good? Does he ask for their help with any of his projects? Get them to double check his wards when he's doing anything dangerous? And how does react when they've warded up something he needs to get to? 😂 Will he just sigh and start working on unwarding the front door again, so he can get in?

I don't think Red would ask MC to check his wards after a while because 1) he wouldn't want them to know that he was getting up to anything out of his league and 2) he'd be tired of them correcting his spelling errors, like someone sick of their writer-partner correcting their grammar! 😂 In all seriousness, though, I think he'd treat a ward-specialist the same as any other kind of Mage, it doesn't make too much of a difference to him!

Hey Lena! I hope you have a safe and restful holiday season! i wanted to ask what each of the ROs personally consider their greatest flaw.

Thank you Jazz, I hope you have an amazing holiday season too!

Blade: I think he thinks his lack of leadership experience and inability to full understand others' emotions and inspire/boost moral is his greatest flaw

Trouble: he definitely thinks his temper is his greatest flaw

Tallys: she thinks her greatest flaw is pride--she usually finds herself incapable of apologizing to people or reaching out to them first!

Shery: she thinks her greatest flaw is her inability to speak up for herself or be in the spotlight

Riel: he thinks his greatest flaw is his smile. His smile always looks threatening and it harms his business transactions occasionally. He wishes he could set people at ease (even deceptively) with a more charming smile

Chase: he thinks his greatest flaw is his ability to fuck things up somehow once he gets too attached to them and bring misfortune to those around him :D

Red: he thinks his greatest flaw is his ambition and inquisitiveness; he knows his quests to know things will harm people at some point, but he lacks the ability to let things lie

Ayla: she thinks her greatest flaw is her temper and her inability to accept help even when she knows she needs it

Briony: she thinks her greatest flaw is the tendency to blurt things without thinking, which comes off as thoughtless and occasionally hurts people or breaks trust

Lavinet: she thinks her greatest flaw is her lack of knowledge about how "normal" people actually live (essentially her privilege), as well as occasionally her selfishness

1. You are amazing. 2. SoH is amazing. 3. How would the ROs (+ Halek if you are feeling froggy) had to do the 'make out to avoid detection' during the crushing phase and maybe if its not too much to ask, once they are in Romanced stages? Thank you for all that you do!!

Actually answered this already here! Thank you so much for your kind words! 😍

What are the inner circles thoughts on the Word(s) of Power? Do any of them think mc is a bit coocoo? In particular, what do Riel and Red think of them? Happy Holidays!

I don't think any of them feel that MC is a bit crazy or anything like that: mostly they feel bad for them, if they find out the circumstances of what happened to MC's hometown!

Blade isn't sure what the nature of MC's powers are, but he is grateful that MC is 1) on their side 2) not a tool for the demons and 3) capable of destroying such powerful enemies.

Trouble thinks it's like a cool power of MC's that comes at a great cost. In that way he kind of feels a kinship to them due to the nature of his own powers!

Tallys thinks that MC has a much bigger role to play in the world, bigger than any of them know, and she's interested to see how things play out.

Shery feels bad for MC and wants to research a way to help them with these strange powers so they don't have to feel afraid of them.

Riel is fascinated by the Words of Power but is being tactful in terms of asking MC to talk about them. His running theory is that this is sort of an Equalist situation, where MC has been gifted powers that they don't understand and which is exacting a cost that they don't know. His theory is that the trauma of their thirteenth birthday either made them misremember or forget how they got the powers in the first place.

Chase is more or less indifferent to the Words of Power and only considers them in the context of MC's losses. He definitely feels sympathy for them but mostly just wants to take their mind off of it and not make them feel any different or like a freak!

Red is fascinated by the Words of Power too and wonders if MC is a different kind of Mage, like the next step in evolution or something like that. If he was at the Circle with them, he also feels shitty because he never knew about the Words, and feels bad that he never learned that aspect of MC's life.

Ayla could not really give a shit about the WOP and is just concerned that MC feels okay and safe.

Briony is mostly awed by MC's power and is curious about its origins, but it's not anything that concerns her overmuch. She definitely relates to having access to a terrifying power that you can't always control, though!

Lavinet is also curious about the Words, but chalks them up to a wide world of arcana and esoterica that she already doesn't really understand. It's just like "a Mage thing" to her lol I don't think she really grasps the nuances of how unusual it is!

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Spoilers

So, what would be the reactions of all the ROs if they were there in arena and witnessed the MC punching the wyvern?

I love them

Blade

Trouble

oh my god that was hot. what is wrong with me lol

Chase

Lavinet

That... was so dangerous (speechless horror)

Shery

Tallys

There are so many more efficient ways they could have handled that situation

Riel

hello! i was wondering- what’s the choice (or just the gist of it, if the details are too spoilery) that will lock the MC into ‘hated’ status with Red? it seems like he’s not the type of person who hates very easily.

Which ROs will be okay with an MC who has slept with Tallys and/or Chase before starting their romance paths? What would their reactions be? #tellmeeverythingto the "hated" status in the game (or at least, so far). In other words, I haven't come across any situations that would lead them to hate the MC. For Red it would have to be something pretty extreme, like killing a member of your team when there was another way to go about things. So far the characters where I haven't seen a "hated" situation arise for are Tallys, Shery, Riel, Chase, and Red!e

Which ROs will be okay with an MC who has slept with Tallys and/or Chase befor starting their romance paths? What would their reactions be?

Okay with it with conditions:

Trouble - he is okay if MC sleeps with Chase but not if MC sleeps with Tallys. Weird, I know, but he considers Tallys like a sister so the prospect is weird for him and he also doesn't want to get in the way of that if Tallys turns out to care for MC. With Chase, he sort of knows Chase sleeps around so he can rationalize it as not meaning anything so long as MC doesn't continue to flirt with Chase around him.

Shery: you can technically still romance with her but sleeping with either of them breaks her heart lol

Red - he is fine with it in general: if MC were "casually" dating him and also "dating" Tallys or Chase, that's their prerogative, but his path requires them to break things off with anyone else before seriously pursuing him or feelings start to get involved

Ayla - she is fine with it if it happened before she joined the Shepherds or long before starting her romance route, but not "recently" in terms of also flirting with her

Briony - fine with it if it happened before they met, not fine with it/can't be romanced if it happens after she joins (basically, same as Ayla, but Ayla has a bit more wiggle room, as you can still sleep with Chase or Tallys when you're still strictly in the "acquaintances" zone)

Lavinet - okay with it if it happened before they met (though she will judge MC for their taste and may lose some approval points) but absolutely not okay if it happens after she joins and her romance route will close

spoilery question. at the current time in the alpha build where are the ros with their feelings for the mc (as in crushing, in love, not their yet, etc.)? ty for doing the holiday letter special btw. they were so fun to read and a nice treat. shery is a sweetie. #tellmeeverything

This is hard to answer with clarity because most of the characters' day off sequences aren't done, so their relationships can't be what they should be at this point in the alpha. At this point, if MC has done everything right, it should be:

Blade: in love but still in denial

Trouble: deep crush but hasn't totally realized it

Tallys: sexual relationship, beginning to catch feelings

Riel: intrigued and wants to spend more time with MC but not crushing or anything yet

Chase: have slept together but it's only casual, "cares" about MC in his own way

Red: interested but still testing the waters, seeing where things go / if exes, hopeful that things can reignite again and re-catching feelings but going slow to be safe

Ayla: slight crush but still cautious, wants to get to know MC more

Briony: definitely can experience physical attraction to MC and is happy to flirt, but not sure if MC is a friend or something more

Again, these don't really apply to the current alpha build since you haven't gotten the chance to build on these relationships as much as any of this requires! This is the planned/ideal scenario. :) And thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed the letters!

I submitted this question before, but I think I forgot to add the hashtag. Sorry! How does Gladius feel about Blade? How is he planning on approaching the reunion?

This is a complicated question that's hard to answer without getting into really heavy spoilers. In the simplest sense, Gladius's feelings about his brother are complicated. From his perspective, Blade trained essentially his entire life to become one of the world's greatest assassins in order to kill the Autarch. Every mission he took with the Ket Rebellion was ultimately in pursuit of that goal. Then they part ways, knowing full well Blade will most likely die, but knowing that it's for a higher cause that will better the world (in their minds). This is unshakable fact to them, and although Gladius mourned his brother, both of them felt the sacrifice was necessary.

Then he hears that not only did Blade fail to kill the Autarch, but that he has defected and become the Autarch's lead soldier/dog. Chaos breaks out in the rebel forces as people get wind that their greatest assassin and weapon against the Autarchy has essentially turned traitor.

Gladius has to spend some time running damage control while trying to figure out what's going on in Haven. Are these only rumors? Is this really Blade, or some sort of twisted doppelganger of him? Is he only playing the long game, pretending to be the Autarch's trusted servant so he can do even more damage or get his chance to try to kill her again?

But Blade isn't answering any of his messages. And in the meantime, they don't know what secrets Blade is spilling to the Autarch about the Rebellion, their plans and their tools and their spies against the Autarchy. Gladius is essentially in charge of a small nation of Ket, his brother has defected and is working for the enemy, and he's pissed.

If you want to know why Blade was so paranoid when those children threw the tomato into the courtyard... here's why. Gladius is out to kill him, even if it means using Blade's own family members as assassins against him. Their reunion is not going to be very pleasant!

Spoilers obviously but it's been bothering me: Why would MC (potentially) replace Blade as commander? Does he step down willingly, does something happen to him, is it the Autarch's doing, etc? And assuming he generally respects MC, how does he feel about it?

After gauging people's thoughts on Patreon (like last year), I've since changed it so that MC doesn't replace Blade as commander; they become co-commanders together. In the least spoilery way possible, this only happens if 1) Blade's storyline has progressed to a certain point and 2) MC's storyline has progressed. In short, Blade and MC find out some things that makes Blade both reevaluate his position as Commander and also MC's place in the world. He offers for them to become co-commanders of the Shepherds (dealing with more day-to-day issues while he handles the Autarchy side of things) partially because Blade has never really thought he was fit to be commander in the first place. While he has the military experience and fighting skills, he hates the administrative side of things and doesn't have faith that he can inspire and lead the troops the way a leader should: he doesn't like talking to or being around people much, he isn't charismatic or particularly heroic, so he doubts that he can make them rally around him the way, say, Trouble or Chase naturally do, or the way Red naturally befriends people. Because of all this, he doubts his own leadership abilities, and coupled with the realizations in the story, it makes sense to him to ask MC if they want to lead the Shepherds alongside him and essentially supplement his weaknesses.

how much did Prihine gossip to Lavinet? How does that impact on her opinions of MC?

Prihine didn't say in so many words that she got railed by MC, but she did hint (heavily) that she had a new lover, mostly to seem more worldly and mature than Lavinet, and then proceeded to tell Lavinet all about MC's dashing heroics at the gala, etc. etc. She put 2 and 2 together after that. Without having met them, Lavinet's not super happy with MC for, in her mind, getting rid of Prihine's husband and then taking advantage of Prihine, who to her is naive and easily manipulated, newly-widowed and vulnerable, and (she thinks) essentially latching on to the one person she can trust in Haven. She thinks it's unprofessional of MC to have slept with her, to say the least, so yeah, her opinion is not very high once she finds out MC has also been assigned to her case! She keeps a lid on these thoughts and judgments, but say goodbye to romancing her. You can earn her approval and friendship back, but she'll never quite forget in the back of her mind that you slept with her cousin after arresting/killing her husband!

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NSFW

And one NSFW question this time around. Does Riel mind terribly if his MC is NOT the type to Top? That ask a while back mentioned he was more likely to be the one walking funny, but is he okay with an MC who doesn't wanna top him ever? 

Hm, this is a complicated question. I don't think Riel would necessarily mind if his MC didn't top, because sex isn't a huge part of their relationship for him--in other words, it's not a deal-breaker. However, he is not the type who'd want to top really ever, either, so the MC would have to be okay with that, as well

For science... Who likes thigh jobs? (Giving and/or receiving) 

Blade - would give it a try and like it exactly one time and be fine with that

Trouble

Tallys - on occasion

Red - would try it to be kinky but would ultimately prefer other alternatives

Briony - would try it but be neutral on it

Lavinet