Author Answers (February) (Patreon)

As you all know, the Author Q&A last month was delayed, so I'm answering the questions we had left over from last time!

As always, the Q&A is divided by General, Spoilers, and NSFW!

General 

This was over a year ago now, but can you do the female!ros reactions to finding a stash of love letters addressed to them, written (but never sent) by the MC? 

I feel like I definitely answered this before, but if I did, I can't find it at the moment!

Tallys: she'd wait until MC came back to the room to indicate that she found the letters, then wait expectantly for their reaction... she'd base her reaction off of theirs! 

Shery: she'd bury the secret deeeeeep down but she'd be incredibly happy and giddy for... months! She'd almost not believe the letters were real if MC acted totally normal around her, but she'd be totally excited for them to finally confess!

Briony: she'd be extremely happy, and she would shyly bring it up with MC right away and confess to finding the letters, but would tell MC "I bring this up because... I Iove you too!"

Ayla: she'd be awkward and embarrassed about it and would try to hide it from MC, but eventually she'd act so weird about it that it would slip out! She'd be extremely flattered but wouldn't know how to bring up the accidental invasion of MC's privacy

Lavinet: she'd never tell MC that she found the letters, but she'd start writing MC letters of her own and sending them, either as an obvious admirer or explicitly as herself!

We've had an ask for the ROs reactions to MC dancing in the rain, but what would the ROs do (and let's ask for Halek, Corelle, and Chandry too) if romanced MC and RO are both in the rain - miserable, cold, and soaked to the bone - when suddenly MC grabs RO, wraps them up in their arms, and whispers "dance with me" into their ear? (Dancing in the rain is one of my favorite tropes if you can't tell lol)

Blade: he would reluctantly and awkwardly dance if he was deep in love or in a relationship with MC. either way he'd be like "goddamn I'm in love"

Trouble: he'd be extremely enthusiastic and excited, and would probably grab MC's hands and jump around in a circle in the rain whooping and shouting!

Tallys: she'd smile quietly and accept MC's invitation and just bask together with them in the rain

Shery: she'd be a little shy at first, but she'd be smiling and laughing in no time and would be so thankful that MC could make her see the bright side of things!

Riel: he would smile and indulge MC, but afterwards he'd be like "ok now let's get dry, my suit is like 2000 dollars and I don't know why you're wearing wool"

Chase: he would probably be the one asking to dance in the rain first! If not, he'd happily oblige MC and dance very close with them, murmuring in their ear to be heard over the rain...

Halek: he would sigh and let MC drag him along and drag his feet, but he might secretly crack a fond smile behind MC's back!

Red: he'd happily dance with MC and probably wouldn't be able to resist kissing them, because hey, he likes that trope too!

Ayla: she'd laugh at MC for being a little cliche and maybe mock them lightly, but she'd dance and energetically get really into it after some persuasion!

Briony: she'd definitely be the one to suggest dancing in the rain first, or if she didn't, she'd laugh and tell MC she was just thinking the same thing! She'd dance with them in the rain, twirl them around, laugh and smile with them, and maybe might even shimmy real close and put her arms around their neck--for "warmth"!

Lavinet: she'd be like :/ but my clothes... and would be a bit grumpy about it, but after a while she'd be swept up in the romanticism of it and enjoy herself and would tell everyone about the extremely romantic moment she shared with MC~ ♥

Croelle: absolutely not. maybe MC could pull him into the rain and he might like... let them do it but his face would be either :| or displeased mussed cat all the while

Chandry: please don't make me include Chandry in romantic scenarios lol. I know it's a Q&A but I'm just... not going to do it gfldkgjfdg

so...if Trouble accidentally hit the MC like in that hypothetical scenario, and was scrambling to apologize and saying he'd do anything to make it up to them.......and then the mc asked for a kiss?

It depends on where they are in the relationship! Trouble may just very well give MC a kiss but think it's like... a joke or a friendly thing, lol....

Tough ask here but say a heavily scarred MC and an RO are at a bar or some party. Then suddenly a very attractive person, like the character from the inn in Chapter 6, walks right up to the MC and laughingly says "ok so my buddies are gonna give me 20 deucalions if I kiss the ugliest person in the bar so can you please pucker up?" Of course, MC brushes this person off but seems visibly upset or sad afterward. What do the ROs do? Sorry for the tough ask lol 

I truly do not believe anyone, including Shery or Riel, would not just straight up deck this person in the face--or at least follow them to a dark alley and, like, mug them... Shery would probably get her ass beat unless MC stepped in, but yeah, I feel like all of them would start swinging!

Could you tell us more about Ambryn please?

Ambryn is one of the largest cities on the Continent, tied with Haven in population and known for its industry and diverse population. Like Haven, it has a strong mix of Diminished races and Norm citizens, although it was always a Norm city (whereas Haven was first a Mage capital). Ambryn was first settled by plains people and was a huge farming and agricultural city, making use of the vast Damba grasslands around it to graze its cattle. However, over-grazing led the area around Ambryn to become a dust bowl, and its farming was later allocated to Rithmere while Ambryn industrialized itself. The grasslands later replenished, but Ambryn remains one of the most modern cities in the East, rivalling the West in its innovation!

The aesthetic for Ambryn is sort of like a steampunky fantasy Victorian city. It's known for its red brick aesthetic!

Source 

So if Norms discovered agriculture... what did everyone else have before that? Did they not have farms? I’m so curious bc I’ve never thought of “well what if superpowered people made a society” before!!

Sorry, when I say Norms discovered “agriculture”, I mean a literal culture based on wide-scale, industrialized farming, not that these other societies didn’t know how to farm. I guess I mean industrialized agrarianism as well as actually efficient techniques for mass farming, mass distribution, and mass production! The other societies did know how to farm (keep in mind this was thousands and thousands of years ago), but on a much smaller scale than what the Norms pioneered. And for the Hunters, Elves, and many of the Ket, many were either hunter-gatherer societies or supplemented heavily with hunting, because their populations were much smaller than what you might expect today. I’m guess I'm talking about their almost prehistoric societies, or at least pre-feudal societies? 

I found a kind of funny scrap I wrote set during this time that kind of explains it (Daga is a Norm and Anthaphe is a Mage, if you can't tell):

“Thirty years?” Anthaphe was astonished. “We can’t grow anything for more than two years, before the land goes dead.”

“What do you mean, goes dead?”

“Well, you know. The first year your cabbages come up nice and big, and then the second year they’re small, and then the next year all this chalky stuff comes up out of the ground, and the cabbages are tiny and sick. Unless you’ve got Plant-Mages coaxing them, there’s nothing for it but to move on. The only place that doesn’t happen is the grasslands in the Damba Plain, because the barley grows itself. We just harvest it.”

“Haven’t you people ever heard of crop rotation?”

“What’s crop rotation?”

Daga turned and stared at her for a moment, saying nothing. Then he said, “Merciful God, and you say we go through the world like locusts!”

“What the hell’s crop rotation? Does it have anything to do with irrigation? Because we know how to do that; our aqueducts will take water anywhere,” Anthaphe said defensively. “We’ve made deserts bloom, you know. Just not for more than two years.”

“You can’t--” Daga began. Then, clutching his head, he staggered away.

Spoilers

since we got blades reaction how do the rest of the cast react to their own “oh shit i like mc” moment.

Trouble: damn. I have a big STINKIN CRUSH on MC and I can't ruin this friendship. Guess I'll just stuff it down deep :)

Tallys: oh no. I lust for MC but it's... not just that. Oh no. [extreme panic and dread and angst at how the relationship will never work because, you know, lifespans...]

Shery: oh no, I like MC and she could never like me because she's a famous hero and I'm just... Shery. My sheer arrogance in even liking her disgusts me

Riel: he has a pretty normal reaction to liking MC, but also concern that he will start being awkward around him (and he does)

Chase: HAHA I DIDN'T JUST THINK THAT. NOPE. NOPE I DIDN'T EVEN CONCEIVE OF THAT IDEA. WHERE IS THE NEAREST BAR. I NEED TO GET OBLITERATED AND FORGET I EVEN EVER FUCKING THOUGHT ABOUT THIS. BYE! :)

Red: pretty normal reaction unless he and MC are exes, in which case he's like

Ayla: she considers just... running away. Just packing up her things and leaving. This is not going to end well for her. But in the end she decides to stay...

Briony: she's excited! of course she likes MC, it's a no brainer! Gosh she hopes they like her back... she's just happy and over the moon and lovey dovey and gets blushy around them, but that's about all that happens!

Lavinet: determination. I must begin my plans to win MC's heart...

tell us about ornos and his role in the story👀 

Uhhhh in the broadest, most general but still spoilery terms... go here! I have to warn in the strongest terms that these are extremely big spoilers though, so don't click if you want the plot of the game to remain a surprise!

NSFW

Can you please give us Chase when he’s just having sex vs when he’s making love? 

Surprisingly, Chase is more "vanilla" and compliant when he's just having sex with one-night stands. It's like, "hey, let's just do whatever they want because this is  a one time thing"? So he's more likely to either bottom or be all about their pleasure during no-strings-attached encounters. When he's in love, it gets slightly... darker and more dominant. But also more tender and loving! Like he's more likely to be a little bit more punishing, but then lavishes with MC with tender kisses and sweet words and lots of aftercare afterwards!