Author Answers (April) (Patreon)

General

Are there any aspects of Blest or any of your characters that you wanted to include but couldn’t find a way to fit into the story?

A lot! In the novel version of Blest, the Castigation didn't happen, and a lot of the species who are "extinct" in the game were not only alive and well, but fairly frequently featured in the novels. I especially miss the Drakes and the Woken animals, like giant talking wolves and winged panther kings! Sadly, having them show up in the scope of the game world would take up too much of the story: so maybe in a sequel or something like that. The same goes for a lot of different cities and cultures in Blest--I try to keep it relatively realistic and their travels closer to Haven, but there's just so much in the Shepherd world that could be explored that I just couldn't fit into the game! The Frozen North, Luxue, Karzai, the Skeleton Coast... the Jalis desert, the Western territories like Kinley or Lindell... the Southern isles like Elinden and Kresh, or even just Conte or Courtshore, etc.! It would be really fun to be able to visit all of them, but sadly, it'll have to be in another story!

As for characters, there's not a lot about the main characters themselves that I had to cut from the game; on the contrary, the game has allowed me to delve more into their personalities and backstories than I normally would have done in a novel! Some things did get changed around for the game: Blade's brother in the novels was dead but his parents were still alive, so I kind of miss the dynamic of him going home and having a normal relationship with his family instead of whatever's going on with him and Gladius in the game lol: his dad was kind of strict and awkward but his mom was a literal angel, I miss her so much 😭 And Chase was also an Equalist experiment in the novels but isn't in the game, so some of his backstory did get pared down or altered! I wish some side characters from peoples' backstories (especially from the Patreon short stories) got more spotlight in the game, but I just couldn't find the time to really give them screen time: I wish we could see more of Clara, Pendric, Aerin, Kato, Ari, Ronan, and Kerri in particular! 

Two major characters from the books that did get cut completely from the game were Junoth and Wintry. There just wasn't room for them, and I also can't imagine Wintry and Halek both existing in a universe and not being together, so ultimately it's best for the story--but I do find myself missing them and the dynamic they added to the crew now and then! 

We saw a little bit of this in Ch6, but when characters get deployed, who prefers inns and who prefers camping?

Ooh, great question!

Prefers camping:

• Blade (he prefers the solitude and quiet: inns make him a little antsy because of the constant need to be alert and aware of his surroundings and all of the security headaches, whereas you can be pretty aware of people trying to creep up on you in the middle of nowhere)
• Tallys (prefers the wilderness to people like 90% of the time)
• Ayla (it depends; she's fine with major cities with high Diminished populations, but hates going to small towns where people will stare at her for being a Mage and would prefer roughing it in that scenario)

No particular preference:

• Trouble (he's equally fine roughing it or going to a town and having a drink in the local tavern, he doesn't really care either way and won't complain in either situation!)
• Red (also equally happy in either situation, he definitely enjoys camping and being on the road--but not too much--as well as getting to visit new towns and places but doesn't need to)
• Briony (I think she has a slight preference for towns and inns just for the sightseeing aspect, but is happy camping and traveling with friends on the road so long as they haven't been doing it for ages and she doesn't sorely need a bath)
• Halek (he can fall asleep anywhere so he doesn't really care either way 😂 I think he secretly enjoys towns and inns more, because he hasn't been around a lot of populated places outside of the Reach and likes to see the different cultures and particularly the cuisines, but he won't really voice a preference unless he's by himself)

Prefers inns:

• Chase (he's perfectly fine roughing it but finds inns and places with people much more interesting)
• Riel (lol)
• Lavinet (she's surprisingly okay with camping but she'll always pick a hot bath and a bed if given the choice!)
• Shery (I think she would be okay with camping in general, but would find it uncomfortable after a few days and would secretly long for the comforts of an inn!)

If a Hunterless group on a mission encounters someone they think is possessed, what do they do? Do they just take them back to Haven, or wait for a Hunter to come to them, or?

It depends on the situation and is usually left to the commanding officer of the mission to determine! The first thing is to determine the Thrall's threat level: are they actively a threat or danger to the people around them? What harm could they be doing? Is the Thrall aware that the Shepherds suspect them ? (If they are, the Shepherds have to act immediately.) How far away is Haven or the nearest Hunter? And how likely is it that the Thrall invited the demon into themselves rather than was unwillingly possessed?

Because many demons have the ability to "jump" into other vessels or bodies if they think they've been caught, with no way of being detected except by particularly skilled Mages or Hunters, it's usually too urgent of a situation for the squad to wait for a Hunter to come to them, or for them to try and capture the person and bring them back to Haven: way too much could go wrong in the meantime, and it would put not only the entire group in danger, but also whichever unlucky town the Thrall happened to be close to if it escaped. Usually if the chance is high that the Thrall was an unwilling victim of the demon, steps will be taken to try and drive the demon out, which is usually easier if you can get the vessel to fight against its control. So safely cornering the Thrall, immobilizing them, and trying to extract the demon (all of which can be done by a skilled Mage, but again the extraction can usually only be successful with the active help of the possessed) is typically the first order of the day--depending on the investigative work the team has done and the level of emergency the situation calls for. Like it's a different thing if the Thrall is actively going around killing people rather than just a random person that is acting kind of off, if that makes sense!

If an extraction is unsuccessful, the bottom line is that the demon must be destroyed. All steps that can safely be taken to preserve the victim will be, but ultimately, it becomes a matter of the many versus the one: the entire city in jeopardy versus one unfortunate soul is a call that has to be made sometimes. It's kind of like how MC has to destroy Rika (unless they use a Word of Power) in order to rid the world of Blaphemel. Sometimes it just has to be done, and there's no time to wait. 

If it's determined beyond doubt that the Thrall purposefully summoned or invited the Thrall into their bodies (say if you find their bedroom full of demonic texts), it becomes a matter of kill on sight, with very few exceptions. This is because extraction isn't possible (unless a Hunter is present) if the demon and Thrall are merged through willing communion with each other. When a demon possesses an unwilling vessel, their consciousnesses and spirits are still separate, with the two minds battling for control at all times. With the demon distracted on one front, it makes it possible for a Shepherd to attack it from another. But a willing vessel and a demon have become inextricably tied together: it's like separating two kinds of soup back into their original bases. You just can't do it. So in those cases, they're a lost cause and are always destroyed immediately, no hesitation.

I hope that makes sense!

Are there Inquisitors and licensed healers in other major cities, or is that mostly a Haven thing?

There are Inquisitors in every major city (and many in not so major towns and villages, as well: "the eyes of the Sun Court are everywhere", as the saying goes). 

There are generally only licensed magical Healers in cities with high Diminished/Mage populations, like Haven, Ambryn, Stroud, Capra, Caprona, etc. You don't generally see them outside of those metropolises, though you might find one or two traveling around in more rural areas, though these run the risk of getting run out of places if they're not judicious about who they talk to and advertising their help! 

Other races have their own versions of healers, menders, and medical professionals, though! Norms have physickers, obviously, but the Ket and Hunters and Elves have their own kinds of healers, each with their own methods of healing and medicine. Notably, even licensed Mage Healers have to go through specialized training to treat Ket patients specifically: Ket have a whole additional arma system on top of everything else, as complex and intricate as their nervous system, so without the right anatomical knowledge, a Mage Healer could really fuck them up or even permanently take away their ability to use their arma, which historically has prevented Ket from trusting or dealing with Mage practitioners. Ket healers and medics, on the other hand, are excellent at treating their own patients and have an incredible success rate in dealing with even grievous or life-threatening injuries; however, they're not as good at treating non-Ket patients! Just a random piece of trivia!

Hey Lena! Since we know Mages tend to do their fair share of ill-advised magic stuff in the name of science (rip moon mage ;-; ), I was wondering.. Has anyone ever tried to open a wormhole to the past or future? Is time travel even possible? Enquiring minds want to know! 

Hi anon, Mages have definitely attempted to jump or Travel both into the past and the future, but it's never been successful thus far! The most anyone has been able to manage is briefly slowing or halting time in their immediate vicinity (a temporal field), but this causes massive strain, nosebleeds, and is basically known to fuck people up, so only the most skilled Arcane Mages (usually Black Robes) attempt it. A few have even managed to create a looping time effect (horomancy) where they keep resetting the last few minutes and trying different actions to influence outcomes, but this is considered EXTREMELY dangerous, not understood in the least, and usually results in shortening people's lifespans each time or sometimes even resulting in immediate death--so it's not something that's experimented with lightly. Others have been able to blink back into the past by about four minutes at the maximum without causing a continuing reset, but again, it's extremely difficult to do and quite risky--some people just blinked out of existence and didn't come back! And no one's been able to blink into the future, at least not that anyone's been able to discern.

In general, time magic and horomancy is generally regarded as one of the most forbidden magical arts, as it could have irreversible and disastrous wide-ranging effects on not only the people around them, but the fabric of the world and the universe itself. All Mages are taught this, so not a lot of people are interested in messing around on that level--but of course, there are always mavericks who want to push the envelope and try and pioneer this unknown frontier.

 For long-range time-travel into either the past or present, it's never been successfully done. However, Travelers and Worldwalkers have discovered alternate worlds that seem to be perfect representations or split-offs of a past or future version of Blest. It's like stepping from the threshold of one doorway and going through another. The new world through the doorway looks and seems exactly the way your Blest would have been 200 years ago: you might even encounter a version of your grandparent there, at the right age and in the correct situation. However, whatever you do in that world still doesn't have any effect on the present of your own world: they seem to be versions of past and present, but they're actually separate and not connected. If you chop down a cherry tree in the world that seems to be Blest of a decade ago, then hop back into your world, that same tree isn't going to be chopped down. They're like imprints or mirror images, but not connected by time, if that makes any sense. Even if you were to encounter your ten-year-old self in that other world, it wouldn't be you, it would be the ten-year-old self of that world's version of you. But sometimes visiting such worlds can give a Traveler a vague idea of the past or the future, to varying degrees of accuracy, which is why the Worldwalkers were considered so dangerous! 

...I hope that all makes sense! It's pretty trippy, I know!

Question: How would the Shepherds (+ Croelle, Halek, Prihine and Mimir, maybe even Caine if he would have a phone) handle phone scammers? Who falls for it, who scams the scammer, who plays dumb and just wastes their time?:D

Doesn't pick up unknown numbers:

Blade 

Tallys

Halek

Doesn't fall for it, but is too nice to hang up or gracefully get off the phone, so is stuck listening to the whole spiel for at least ten minutes uncomfortably before making up an excuse like their stove just caught on fire:

Shery

Briony

Politely declines, asks the caller not to call them again/put their number on a DNC list, hangs up, and blocks the number:

Lavinet

Red

Hangs up without saying anything:

Caine

Has a [Windows computer buffering] moment where they briefly panic/think something is going on before realizing it's a scam and just hanging up without saying anything:

Trouble

Has an app on their phone that they made that automatically blocks scammers from contacting them and sends them a threatening message about legal action:

Riel

Wastes an incredible amount of time scamming the scammer and either scaring the daylights out of them by pretending to be an angry FBI agent on a secure line or like stealing their bank account info:

Chase

Launches into such a vitriolic tirade and verbal assault that the scammer hangs up themselves:

Ayla

Prihine

Calmly says "fuck off" in the most sincere and cutting voice imaginable and hangs up:

Croelle

Since we get  a taste of this with Chase in Chapter 7, what are the ROs reunions like *coughandHalekcough* ( in an established relationship) when the MC returns from a long mission away?  (Like who  makes a big deal publicly, who squirrels MC away for alone time, etc LOL)

Blade: he would prefer for their reunion to be in private, preferably in his room, so he can throw MC in bed and keep her in his room for at least the entire evening with strict instructions that they are not to be interrupted by anyone. 😠 Then he can show her exactly how much he missed her! 

Trouble: he is so extra about it and basically runs through the compound yelling at the top of his lungs "MY HUSBAND/WIFE/SPOUSE/ETC. IS BACK!!!!!!" He makes sure EVERYONE knows about it and basically forces them to form a giant welcoming party on the front steps, then sprints at MC and wraps them up in a big bear hug and lots of kisses and spins them around as soon as he sees them. The welcoming party always feels thoroughly unnecessary because he doesn't let MC go anyway and kind of side-eyes them like 😒 if they try to take MC away from him so why the hell did he assemble them in the first place LOL

Tallys: she gets a huge smile on her face, one that is never seen in any other context or by anyone else, and walks up to MC and wraps them in a big hug. She doesn't make a huge affair out of it, but it's pretty noticeable to others anyway because Tallys isn't usually so expressive. She's genuinely overjoyed to see them and quietly bubbling over with gladness. Then she leans in their ear and makes a sly comment about "catching up more later tonight" before letting them go about their business

Shery: she lets out a loud squeal and goes running to MC, usually with tears of delight in her eyes. She's usually quite clingy to MC afterwards and it's hard to get her to leave her side, and she acts quite impatient to get MC alone and to their rooms so they can debrief together and catch up! (Or "catch up", or both)

Riel: he always waits for them at the front steps when he expects them to be home, even if it means he's waiting for an hour or more, always with his hands folded primly behind his back. When MC shows up, Riel descends the steps and says coolly, "Good, you're home," examining them with a critical eye for injuries, then gently taking MC's hand and leading them off to their rooms. Unless it's a matter of urgency or emergency, he's always the one MC has to debrief first, not Blade, and they'll generally even share a meal together before he allows them to leave to deliver their mission report 😂 Generally he prefers their real reunions to be held in the privacy of their quarters, but he will publicly wait for MC on the steps each time!

Chase: it depends on where he's at the moment he becomes aware that MC's home: like if he's in the dining hall and someone tells him MC was spotted at the front gates, he might stand up and announce loudly that his lover has made their safe and triumphant return and they shall be retiring to their quarters henceforth but drinks are on him (that's not how drinks work in the refectory...) before strolling off to go find his girlfriend/boyfriend/significant other. Other times he might just bolt without a word! 90% of the time he will approach them, give them a glad hug, and then bend his knees and silently throw them over his shoulder (if applicable) to bear them away to their room. And he's definitely not letting them out for at least several hours!

Red: he's always bounding down the steps three at a time to sweep them up in his arms and give them a huge hug and a kiss. He's always thrilled to see them come home, so their reunions tend to be quite public and very sweet, because he just can't stop smiling into their face and is unable to let them go. He won't drag them off to their rooms, but he'll follow them everywhere they go and generally won't leave them alone until they can be together in private! He always makes sure to cook their favorite meal (or get their favorite takeout) that night, too!

Ayla: she goes flying at them and wraps herself around them like a monkey around a tree, stubbornly clinging and complaining if anyone tries to pry her off. She'll usually say something snarky like "took you long enough" or "you kept me waiting!" but that's her way of saying "I missed you so much it broke my heart!" She'll let MC go about their necessary business, but she'll stay stubbornly at their side the entire time!

Briony: she lets out a big squeal-scream and goes sprinting at MC, colliding them with almost painful force in a big hug and covering their face with kisses. She'll usually cry with happiness and wail, "I missed you so much!!!! I'm so glad you're home!!! I don't think I can be apart from you ever again!!! 😭😭😭" She'll let MC go about their business barely, but she'll be hopping from foot to foot and fidgeting with impatience the entire time, and once they're done, she's definitely dragging them either home or out to dinner somewhere and not letting anyone intrude on her time with MC for the rest of the night and will be quite demanding and greedy about it!

Lavinet: she always plays it cool like "oh, my husband is home? good," calmly closing the book she was reading, rising from her chair, brushing out her skirt, and calmly walking out to greet MC at a sedate pace. Their eyes meet and she doesn't say a word, just crooks a finger at him. MC arches his brows at her or grins knowingly, she turns to go inside, he follows, and as soon as the bedroom door is closed, they're tearing each other's clothes off 😂

Halek: he usually plays up the drama and drags himself out to meet MC, slouching morosely and giving them sad puppy dog eyes like "you were gone so long. I missed you 😞" Depending on how MC responds, he might kind of melt into them and be super clingy and pathetic and generally a nuisance, like his bones have turned to rubber and he keeps leaning into MC and being bothersome, kind of like Howl after his hair got dyed the wrong color, or he'll switch into a more demanding persona, perfunctorily sling them over his shoulder, and walk off to their rooms in a business-like manner to make them sorry for being away for so long 😳

Thank you much for sharing your talent with us by creating this world and bringing these amazingly rich and complex characters to life. Also thank you much for your unbelievable efforts to always engage with the community you have built. I don't know of another creator who makes the effort to engage with their community as much as you. It is humbling to see, thank you! My question is: what animal  would you say best represents each RO's personality?

Ah, thank you so much for your very kind words, I'm truly so honored to receive them!!! 💖💖💖 It's messages like this that make my whole month and really motivate me to keep working! 🥺  It's such a pleasure to interact with the community and have fun with everyone here: I wish I could do it even more! Thank you so much for your lovely message!

And ah, we talked about ROs and animals that represent their personalities here; I also like the discussion of their Patronuses and their daemons as well! :)

I believe we got a small glimpse of how Blade and Trouble would react if someone were to insult the MC. How would the ROs react to someone calling MC, for example a hedgewitch to his/her face while they were present? Or behind MCs back?

I think this was asked just last week: you can find answers here, here, and here!

can you tell us more about ket tattoos?

We went pretty in-depth on Ket tattoos (among others) in this Q&A here! And what Blade's looks like is here!

The compound is on fire and the Shepherds have just a few moments to grab what's important to them!! What do they each save?

This question was asked and answered here!

What are the ROs ideal first dates 🤔

Blade: he's camping/traveling with them, so it's not so much of an official "first date" as it is an extended period of time alone together, where they're just together and it's private and they're traveling and resting and eating and cooking together, with no one to interrupt them or take his attention away from her. And then they make a detour to something he wants to show her, maybe a lake that perfectly reflects the stars that he noticed on his previous travels and wanted to take her to, or a quaint little town he thinks she'd like, and they're sitting together observing the stars, and then, without quite knowing when, they're holding hands, and then they're kissing... 

Trouble: he invites them out to dinner somewhere at one of his favorite haunts in Haven, and then they stop at a bar to have a few drinks and keep spending time together. Maybe he gets in an arm-wrestling or knife-throwing contest just to impress MC 😂 Then he takes them to some secret place, the ramparts or some hidden rooftop or balcony that no one else knows about, and they cuddle together under his cloak and just see where the night leads... 👀

Tallys: she 100% wants their first date to be somewhere out in nature, so maybe she invites them out on a hike or to go foraging for herbs (iykyk 😏) and they just spend the afternoon soaking in the environment and enjoying the peace of the forest and the way the sunlight streams through the trees and the way the breeze winds through the grass, talking to each other for hours and sharing their deepest thoughts and feelings without being conscious of anything else. And maybe, at some point, they'll make kiss 😳

Shery: they go somewhere quaint and bright and adorable, like a pastel afternoon tea shop or a cozy bookstore and just spend hours chatting and having fun over pastries and treats. Then she gets to show them about all the little places she loves about Haven: the baker on the corner, the hidden plaza with its fountain and the dozens of cats, the beautiful secluded bench she would always sit and read on when she was a student. Eventually they go somewhere like a concert or a play and maybe they hold hands 😳 and it's super natural 😳 then MC walks her back to her room and it's obvious they don't want to part so they end up having a sleepover!

Riel: he invites them to dinner at a high-end restaurant, then either to a private gallery or to his box at the opera, depending on the mood, and their conversation is illuminating and stimulating and engrossing. Afterwards they get dessert at his favorite patisserie and walk along the boulevard, so wrapped up in each other that they don't want the night to end, so they go back to his manor and stay up all night together!

Chase: preferably something high-adrenaline, his ideal first date is probably running through the backalleys of a foreign city during an extremely crowded and chaotic festival or parade while being chased by enemies; kissing to blend in with the other drunk couples to throw off their pursuers; heading to a casino with their stolen loot (because of course they stole something together) and effortlessly pretending to be the St. Claires, a well-off, debonair, and flirtatious couple who can never seem to lose at cards, before finishing the night off at an unseemly expensive hotel room where they will make ravenous love well into the morning 😅

Red: they go on a lunch date in a quaint restaurant in the city before taking a trip to a museum or archive to spend the afternoon marveling at works of art or historical artifacts; then they pack a picnic dinner and ride off to a nearby lake where they can watch the sunset and then eventually lay back and look at the stars. It's a whole day affair!

Ayla: they have dinner at a Jalis restaurant where she can show them the cuisine and customs of her people; then they get a few drinks at a local rowdy tavern, take in the sights and maybe listen to some live music or dance, before finishing off the evening by doing something fun and rebellious, like breaking into the Autarch's menagerie to feed the giraffes or drunkenly having a footrace around the horse track or sneaking into some important person's graveyard before getting run off by security. In the exhilaration of getting away, they hide in the shadows of an alleyway together, trying to stifle their laughter, and then abruptly start making out! 

Briony: they're on a trip somewhere, maybe in a beachside town, and decide to attend the town's festival, walking through the streets, eating and sharing festival food from the stalls, dancing, stopping to play festival games or to watch the fireworks, and then they go for a walk on the beach and end up kissing as the waves lap at their feet! Picturesque~

Lavinet: MC takes her out to an incredible restaurant with rooftop views, where they share an intimate dinner together, before going somewhere a little more exciting: maybe a risque play that's been making all the headlines, or slow-dancing at an elegant lounge or having a drink in a little-known speakeasy, before finishing off the night with a stroll through some beautiful gardens under the light of the full moon~

Spoilers

Sorry if this has already been asked but I gotta know: If the MC doesn’t pursue a relationship beyond FWBs with Chase, will the relationship just stay like that forever? Like will they be lil old senior citizens and still banging casually?? I’m sorry but the mental picture occurred to me and I NEED to know

Haha, I think this is dependent on a lot of factors! There are some endings [spoilers] where Chase blasts off and kind of just goes where the wind takes him, so in a scenario like that, I think the FWB part of their friendship would just naturally end unless he's back in town like once a year and they're drunk at some party and MC's like "...for old times' sake?" and he'd probably be down! Otherwise, if he sticks around Haven, it really just depends on your MC and headcanon... like obviously the FWB would end if your MC started dating someone or found someone else they were interested in, etc.! In the most realistic scenario, I would think that Chase doesn't tend to pursue continuous sexual relationships with any one person for much more than a year before naturally easing off, both to protect the friendship and prevent complications or romantic issues from arising, and also out of a natural tendency to shake up routines and seek out other connections: otherwise it starts to feel too much like exclusive or regular dating for him! But I could also see scenarios where he'd be chill with continuing to hook up with MC every once in a while when the mood struck, with the understanding that they're both also seeing other people (or at least free to)--it just wouldn't be nearly as frequent or as intense as what's implied in his current FWB route now!

Hi Lena! This might be the same answer as “who would they pick as their best man/ maid of honor” question (or like in the original books just “all the shepherd captains” 😂)  but who would the ROs pick to be godparent(s) to their kid (given MC is on board with whoever they choose?)

Ooh, great question! I'm going to say that it's not unusual in Blest to assign multiple godparents, so "all of the inner circle" might be an answer that shows up more than once 😂

Blade: probably Trouble and Tallys so they can share the responsibility of guiding his child if he ever dies, and possibly Gladius if they've repaired their relationship and are on good terms by the time of the birth of his child--but realistically he would want all of the Shepherd captains involved in some capacity even if they're not officially named!

Trouble: probably all of the Shepherd captains, with Blade taking priority as the child's primary guardian first--but he would want all of them involved in some capacity and raised in a really big loving family that way!

Tallys: most likely Shery would be the godmother, since she's probably closest to Tallys as well as best-suited to be a parent in Tallys's mind. She might also involve Blade and Trouble, but it would be more of a courtesy inclusion thing than like a real delegation of responsibility because she secretly fears their child-raising sensibilities LOL

Shery: probably Tallys and Briony would stand as her godmothers!

Riel: Aerin would definitely be a godmother to his child, and probably Mr. Makepeace and his husband as well! The other Shepherds can be involved as uncles and aunties 😂 Lavinet would probably be tagged as a godparent as well to ensure his kid is raised in a well-off environment with good connections!

Chase: Kato and Ari would stand as godparents, as well as all of the Shepherd captains, with no order of priority assigned. He expects them to pass his kid around like a football, complete chaos only!

Red: probably all of his sisters (if he can only choose one, Idalia, since she's the oldest), as well as Neon and Pan!

Ayla: she'd probably pick Trouble, Red, Briony, and Lavinet as her child's godparents, by her own esoteric reasoning. Like Red is the reasonable parent, Trouble is the protective/fun parent, Briony is the sweet and sensitive parent, and Lavinet is the parent who gets to spoil them lol the others can figure out how that's going to work after she's dead

Briony: she'd name all of the Shepherd captains as her baby's godparents with no hesitation! They all have to be involved in the baby's life! She'd also choose Kerri and Ronan if they've reconnected, of course!

Lavinet: she'd name Clara and Pendric as the baby's godparents first and foremost, her sisters (the sisters take priority in guardianship if they've married and left the household), and then Ayla and Briony as a backup just in case!

Hi! If the other RO’s where in Blades place during Chp 4 with Moonsilk and were being romanced how would they react?

Trouble: he would have started throwing hands lol... maybe not at Moonsilk herself, he would have waited until Halek got back and then punched him square in the face as hard as he could--a knockout hit! Doesn't even matter that Halek didn't know, he would have been blind with rage and needing to take it out on the first person he could hold accountable!

Tallys: she would have been really close to actively fighting Moonsilk but would have controlled herself to avoid a diplomatic incident, but made it really clear how furious she was. After MC got back safely, she would be able to admit in private that she could see the reasoning in Moonsilk's plan and might have even been willing to do something like that in Moonsilk's situation, to save her people... but outwardly she would ALWAYS hold a deadly grudge towards Moonsilk and would have iced her out!

Shery: she would have been extremely upset, but after MC got back and she was able to examine the situation in a vacuum, she would have understood Moonsilk's logic and saw that her intentions were more to save her people rather than to intentionally harm MC, so she would have somewhat forgiven Moonsilk, or at least let go of any anger towards her, unless MC couldn't!

Riel: honestly, I don't think Moonsilk would have fooled him for an instant, but if she somehow did, he would have played it cool and even pretended to admire her for her cunning and her Machiavellian plan; pretended that all was forgiven; and lulled everyone into a false sense of security so he could set about orchestrating a detonation of Moonsilk's life... no one crosses him or MC

Chase: he definitely would have been extremely upset and restless, though probably not to the point where he'd raise his voice or cause a huge scene, and he would have been willing to let it go and let bygones be bygones to keep the peace once MC made it back safely and they seemed pretty okay with the situation. If they said the word though, he'd definitely sneak into Moonsilk's room and put like fantasy Nair in her shampoo bottle or something!

Red: he would have been extremely agitated, upset, and worried, but he wouldn't have been focusing his anger at Moonsilk because he wouldn't have found it productive. Once MC made it back safely, he probably would have moved past the deception in order to keep the peace but would have found it EXTREMELY awkward to be around Moonsilk... like just standing in the same room and having this awkward silence and unspoken knowledge like "....yup... here we are... both just standing here... after you lied to me about the love of my life... 😬" Super awkward!!!

Ayla: she would have been throwing hands. Moonsilk would have definitely been half-strangled with her own hair 🥲 and no remorse about it, either! Whenever Moonsilk was in her presence again, she'd be baring her teeth and barking as an intimidation tactic 👹

Briony: she might not have been fooled because she has enough Healing knowledge to intuitively check if she was sick or not--but if she was fooled, she definitely would have decked Moonsilk in the face ONE time and left it at that (but her punches are extremely powerful, so one punch from her is like a whole beatdown). Afterwards she would have felt a little bad about it in private, because if she was trying to see things from Moonsilk's perspective, she could sort of maybe get it, so she might either act a little contrite or at least coolly civil to Moonsilk unless MC gave her just cause to keep on hating her! In that case, she definitely would give Moonsilk the cold shoulder and ice her out like Tallys!

Lavinet: she would keep her cool in the moment, but she would be furious about being deceived and would definitely pursue all of the political consequences she could, if only to show Moonsilk she cannot fuck with the Shepherds (aka Lavinet) and get away with it. But underneath it all, she'd have a grudging respect for Moonsilk's deviousness and cunning. In another world I totally think they'd be frenemies! 

Hello! So i have been replaying Dragon age inquistion and there is a mission at a ball wtih nobility. And at the beginning of this mission a servant (?) presents us and all the companions that we bring by saying their names and titles and everything. And I was curious about how the ROs + Halek, Prihine and Mimir (and Caine? although him being at a ball would maybe be weird?) would be presented? And MC too if possible? thank you!

Hi there, thanks for your question! So after refreshing my memory with this video, I'm sorry to say that I don't think there's an exact 1:1 equivalent between Blest and DA:I here, if only because the servants are going to announce whatever name they're given, either by the recipient of the invitation or by whatever liaison or representative is fielding them for the Shepherds' Order--so in short, the servants only going to say what someone tells them to say. Anoble's servant isn't going to announce Blade at a ball as "Blade Bronwyn, Commander of the Shepherds, Khehi-Ket of Ygrath, Kingslayer, One of the Seven Shadows of Corvus" because they either wouldn't know half of that information, or he wouldn't want them to it; the same goes for "Tallys Ironwood, Third-in-Command of the Shepherds, Keeper of the former House of Ironwood". She'd only give her name and Shepherd rank, as would most of the others--for example, it wouldn't exactly behoove Red to have himself announced as "Archmage of the Veiled Circle" since the Veiled Circle is still definitely illegal and not public knowledge, lol!

However, since the answer that they'd just give their first and last names isn't that much fun, let's just pretend they're living in a temporary Dragon Age Winter Ball AU where such knowledge is somehow omnipresent, okay? 😂

Blade: Blade Bronwyn of the Bronwyn clan, Commander of the Order of the Shepherds, Khehi-Ket of Ygrath, Kingslayer, One of the Seven Shadows of Corvus

Trouble: [REDACTED] Trouble Alder, Vice-Commander of the Order of the Shepherds

Tallys: Tallys Ironwood of Shyrduin, Third-in-Command of the Order of the Shepherds, Keeper of the former House of Ironwood

Shery: Shery Noelle Acquell, Quartermaster of the Order of the Shepherds

Riel: Riel Syndran, Esquire, Seneschal of the Order of the Shepherds, Master of the Haven Merchants Guild, Founder of the Syndran Trading Syndicate, Celebrated Philanthropist and Patron of the Arts, Author, Guest Lecturer at the University of Haven, Recipient of the Star of Lirren (he's tryna to fit his whole resume on there until the herald is blue in the face)

Chase: Chase Trinaeste, Captain of the Order of the Shepherds, Master of the Haven Thieves Guild, Prince of Thieves, King of Crooks, Thief-Lord of Conte, Scourge of the Southern Seas, Outlaw Hero and Friend to the Working Man (obviously supplied by Chase LMAO)

Red: Liefred Antiqua, Captain of the Order of the Shepherds, Archmage of the Veiled Circle, Bearer of the Flame-Hammer, Aspirant to the Order of Black Robes

Ayla: Ayla Aescar of Jalis, Captain of the Order of the Shepherds, Mage of the Four Winds, Wilderness Guide, Conquerer of Sotat

Halek: Halek Prince of the Reach, Captain of the Order of the Shepherds, Sol and Chieftain of Uth Baryd, Member of the White Sun Order, Liege-lord of the Black Shield

Briony: [BIG SPOILERS] Briony Serengard of Elinden, Captain of the Order of the Shepherds, Stormbreaker, Bearer of Gonturan, Scion of Caer Seren of Nimith, Gladiator Champion of Heth Macoll 

Lavinet: The Lady Lavinet Amaryllis Naveen of Lockwood, Captain of the Order of the Shepherds, Heiress Apparent of Lockwood, Chevalier of the Order of the Iron Cross, Member of the Order of the Violet

Mimir: Mimir Esthin, Officer of the Order of the Shepherds, Sister of the Silver Eye

Prihine (assuming she's not married to Turti Ushala yet): Lady Prihine Cressida Naveen of Brunen, Member of the Order of the Pearl

Caine: Caine Tavadon, Apprentice of the Order of the Shepherds

I'm not going to do MC since their titles are heavily dependent on MC's choices and background and etc.!

Hi Lena! I was wondering, can you tell us a bit more about the Chrysalis? Will we ever get to see it in game?

Hi there! I don't have too many details to give on the Chrysalis: it's essentially a prison/torture chamber/conversion camp somewhere underneath the Sun Court where the worst seditionists and blasphemers are sent. Sometimes they're tortured in very inventive ways for their crimes before being allowed to die; other times they're experimented on to further the Inquisitors' understanding of certain things, like certain tolerances or effects on Diminished, before being executed. And sometimes, if they're too useful to be killed, some prisoners are brainwashed through a gauntlet of secret and torturous techniques and stripped of their free will, doomed to act as mindless servants of the Autarchy... Although no one knows this last part or what really goes on in the Chrysalis, everyone agrees that to be sent there is a fate worse than death!

In certain routes, MC might get a glimpse of the Chrysalis, but won't explore it thoroughly!

I recently read Riel's two short stories about his past and Shery's so this will mainly be about Riel, since I haven't gotten to the others yet:

Where are Ashcroft and Mr. Makepeace now? I know that he wanted to retire after Riel left and I wonder if Ashcroft and Mr. Makepeace know how far Riel has come? Do any of them still have some form of contact with Riel? Either business-wise or just for writing each other letters? I always saw Mr. Makepeace as kind of like a father to Riel. I know he probably sees him as more of a Mentor and close friend but he just gives me pure dad-vibes and I feel like he would be/is really proud of Riel🥺

Mr. Makepeace followed through with his plans and moved to a cottage outside of Ambryn with his husband and their dog after the events of Riel's latter short story, The Time Between Dog and Wolf! He is happily chilling, living off his hefty retirement savings, and spends much of his time gardening and taking care of horses. ❤️ He and Riel write to each other regularly and Riel sometimes visits them when he's in the area of Ambryn! Mr. Makepeace does have a general idea of what Riel's accomplished (and is absolutely unsurprised by any of it) but Riel tries to avoid telling him about current conflicts and problems he's having so Mr. Makepeace can just spend his retirement in peace without worrying about him. So he's pretty up-to-date on Riel's doings, but doesn't know absolutely everything the way he used to and isn't his advisor or mentor in that capacity anymore! He'd be there for Riel if he needed him in a heartbeat, though, and is always there in case Riel needs advice or guidance, though Riel rarely asks for it nowadays! He was definitely a surrogate father to Riel as well as a teacher, mentor, and friend, and I think if he wasn't there to influence Riel and empower him, Riel would have gone down a much darker path. Riel values and respects him and his advice possibly the most out of anyone alive!

As for Ashcroft, they have a better relationship now and are pretty civil to each other, surprisingly! If Ashcroft is in town he will drop in and pay a courtesy call to Riel and they'll awkwardly have an obligatory dinner together 😩 even though Riel doesn't do the same if he's in Ashcroft's area LMAO he's too busy 😂😂😂 Most of the time their association is just the occasional business correspondence, like Ashcroft will write to Riel and ask him for advice on so-and-so or a question about a Whitten account that Riel managed back in the day, and Riel will respond or write to him to ask Ashcroft for a favor if need be, but it's pretty much all about business in their letters and quite brief. Ashcroft is still managing the Whitten House in Leore and doing fairly well! They are growing nicely but aren't booming, if that makes any sense, which suits him just fine. But if they happen to cross paths at a social gathering, they will acknowledge themselves as "foster/adoptive brothers" to other people if asked and are pretty polite and sometimes even mildly complimentary towards each other! Ashcroft is more respectful to Riel than Riel is to Ashcroft, but isn't he just that way with everybody? 🥲 Ashcroft is most likely going to make a brief cameo appearance in Riel's route down the line as well!

How do the rest of the characters feel about my new bestie Mimir? Do they believe she can actually predict the future?

Doesn't believe it:

Blade - just generally suspicious of future-telling stuff, stuff that's presented to him as unreliable or ambiguous (like "this might happen but it also might not"), and generally lacks faith

Chase - has enough run-ins with shysters and conmen that he's extremely skeptical of anything like this; he likes/pities Mimir and is generally sympathetic to her, but thinks she's a bit addled by her past experiences and believes her own story (aka isn't purposefully malicious), but he doesn't

Halek - hates Mimir's whole vibe and concept, as skittish and aggravated by her as a spooked horse, avoids her at all costs, anything remotely involved with prophecies or fortune-telling triggers him and is generally very upsetting

Lavinet - I think she leans more towards "extremely skeptical" rather than "adamant non-believer," but because she's not super familiar with magic and now you're telling her none of what Mimir does really obeys the known laws of magic, she's not super inclined to be like "oh yeah then she's definitely telling the truth"... she kind of just thinks Mimir is confused, poor dear, but goes along with it outwardly to be nice

Skeptical but open to the possibility and can't definitively say either way:

Trouble - he's not really sure either way and doesn't really have strong feelings about it. He just feels bad for her and wants to make sure she gets taken care of, so if the whole future thing is part of her journey of getting there, it's no skin off his nose

Red - he's more leaning in the realm of believes it, but not to the point where he'll believe everything Mimir says or prophesizes without a massive grain of salt

Shery - she has no idea what she believes when it comes to this, but she knows that if it's truth, she finds the whole idea extremely unnerving, so she's just going to not think about that part and just focus on making sure Mimir is warm and loved and treated with kindness and given a shawl and a nice warm mug of tea every night!! they are friends! Mimir likes to sit with Shery and keep her company while she does something chill like knit because Shery doesn't have as many divergent futures as a lot of the Shepherds, she's pretty steady on her trajectory in life!

Riel - I think he's leaning more towards "belief", in that he believes Mimir is probably telling the truth or her abilities do seem to predict the future, but is also of the belief that they're not very useful or practical as they are, since they're so divergent that you can't really do much with them. Mostly Mimir low-key kind of annoys him because she's so incredible at dodging his questions or any attempt to study/experiment on/understand her that he views her as, like, this specimen he can never quite catch lol. She just effortlessly evades any attempts for him to rationally understand or explain anything about her and it annoys him to no end lmao!

Believes it:

Tallys - she's had her own run-ins with time-jumping Seers, so she 100% believes Mimir's story and her abilities. She's kind of low-key scared that Mimir's going to tell her something she doesn't want to hear, because she's going to have to live way longer than everyone else, so if Mimir pops her with a "you're going to spend most of your life alone!" Tallys definitely does not want to know that, but generally she's very kind and gentle towards Mimir and treats her with a lot of respect! Kind of the way you would treat a 90-year-old grandma or elder in your community lol!

Briony - she deffo believes Mimir and gets indignant when other people don't. She feels a kinship to her if she finds out that Mimir lived in Heth Macoll for a while (I think that's implied in one of the visions about her), and also feels a strong kinship because Mimir also doesn't really remember her past or where she comes from or really any of the same details as Briony. So she's very protective and defensive of Mimir and will fight anyone who makes fun of her!

Ayla - she definitely believes Mimir, that story is way too crazy to be made up and it totally checks out in her mind that someone like that could exist in the world. She doesn't really care if other people believe Mimir or not or really any curiosity at all about her future, but she will make sure people treat Mimir with respect because Mimir can't really defend herself against it!

Caine - he believes it because really, he'll believe anything. With the innocence of a child he's constantly asking Mimir questions about his future out of curiosity, but is mature enough to accept that whatever she says basically means nothing because it can cancel each other out! Like one day she might tell him he has 6 dogs in the future and then another day she says he won't have any, so he just rolls with it. He tries to be her little helper, mostly because Shery tells him to but also because he's a nice boy who likes to be helpful, and is fairly unfazed by her strangeness!

NSFW

Hey! so kind of nsfw but more lore i guess? Because you watched bridgerton and it's easier to explain with an exemple : how is the sex ed in this world? you mentioned things in other posts (contraception,...) but what about just sex in general. To go back to brigerton, in the show women (in the nobility at least) are very sheltered about it but not the men, so is it the same in this world too? or are they at least taught/know more than in this show/era ?

Hi there, good question! The answer definitely varies by culture as well as pre- and post-Castigation, but in general: 

The Elves definitely have sex ed, and they tend to be very frank even to young kids asking things like where babies come from, etc, so even from a young age, they have a basic grasp on things like that. It's customary for many clans to have like a "class" about not only the basic workings of sex, but also what's appropriate behavior, contraception, courting, consent, etc., with all of the [whatever the Elven equivalent of a thirteen-year-old is] once a year, so they're quite educated on the subject by the time they're teenagers! The class is conducted in a very calm and normal way, so there isn't like cringe or shame assigned to it, it's just like "here's how it works, it's a very beautiful thing and an expression of love, does anyone have any questions?"

The Mages and the Ket have similar formal classes as part of their education programs, so if you go to a Mage/Ket school, you're eventually going to have a crash course in sex ed, though both of them tend to be more... clinical and factual than the Elves. For the Khehi-Ket, they have to undergo mandatory training and classes in seduction techniques as young adults, since they may be sent to work as infiltrators and spies, and these classes are extremely detailed on providing information about anatomy as well as sexual pleasure, erogenous zones, and all of the other things they would need to know to be effective and convincing agents lmao. (Yes, Blade had to sit through these too. He had perfect marks in memorization but failed all of his practical exercises so they eventually gave up on him and removed him from the program lol 😃) So just imagine a classroom full of deadly soldiers staring straight-faced at an instructor who's pointing to a diagram of the clit

Mage sex ed classes take place during the equivalent of like freshman year, around 13-14, as part of their kind of basic Healing 101 curriculum (which all students have to take as part of their education, not just those specializing as Healers). This is more sanitized and bland and factual, like an anatomy or health class, but at least you won't get a ton of Mage students who are like "wait girls pee out of a different hole??", so that's something! They know! Also they have such free access to all sorts of texts, including forbidden ones; plus they're a bunch of horny students locked up in a school together; so even if there wasn't a formal class, they were going to figure it out on their own anyway

The Hunters don't have like a formalized sex ed class, but they're not that sheltered, either, so they kind of just figure it out through osmosis or talking to their peers or having talks with their parents. It's kind of left up to each individual and is not really seen as a priority in their formal education system, but they manage pretty well, so you're not going to see many really sheltered Hunters who are like "you can get PREGNANT? from SEX?" running around: most of them figure out the basics on their own as they get older!

For Norms, schoolrooms definitely don't offer sex ed classes, and it's considered unseemly by the aristocracy to discuss sex openly. Among the commonfolk, sex is a very open and common topic, and in rural parts of the Continent, most of the time parents will sit their kids down  and give them the rundown around the time they start to get interested in courtship (usually out of pragmatism and to prevent unexpected pregnancy), and the ones who receive the "talk" will let their more sheltered friends know eventually. But if you grow up in the city, you can get basic sex ed just from hearing drunk sailors or soldiers exchanging ribald stories as they walk down the street or hang out in taverns, or seeing the courtesans and their brothels hanging out in the red light district; it would be extremely surprising to be a city kid and not at least have a basic understanding of where babies come from after a certain age, even if you don't know the exact medical terms for it, just because it is a subject of a lot of racy novels or backalley plays or just common dock worker talk. You might get a little mixed up if you're from a wealthier middle-class family, but you should generally get the spirit even if you never have anyone formally give you "the talk," if that makes any sense.

For aristocrats, they're generally the most sheltered of the bunch, especially because they can't sleep with each other without massive social consequences, so they don't really get the chance to figure things out for themselves, and of course they're not receiving any sex ed classes or anything like that. But parents will usually give an extremely oblique cautioning to their teenagers, like, "If a man wants to lie with you, you must keep your maidenhood intact, or else you will become laden with child", if only to prevent scandal lol. But again, because the strictness of their class usually prevents them from even being in situations where it could be possible to sleep with each other without anyone knowing, this kind of warning isn't actually needed, since the risk of it happening is pretty low. 

Ironically, aristocratic women tend to be more informed on sex than men, if only because it's acceptable/popular for young ladies to read love stories and romance novels, which often secretly contain quite a lot of explicit or sexual content--enough that they become educated on such matters through reading. It's kind of a rite of passage, like adolescent girls reading lemon fanfic on AO3 and figuring some shit out :O It might give them an overly-flowery or idealized idea of what happens during sex, but they understand the basics, and things like periods or pregnancies are discussed and explained in detail, usually by their mothers or nursemaids. 

While aristocratic young men don't receive a formal sex education, they do know how sex works, the way the Duke and Anthony and all of the other young men knew in Bridgerton. However, they're fairly sheltered and naive when it comes to how women's bodies work, so you will find many a young newly-wed who's utterly flabbergasted to find that his wife is going to bleed! Every month! For what reason? He has no idea! They're a bit stupid in that area, but it's not entirely their fault! 

All in all, the world of Blest is definitely more sexually progressive and open than the world of Bridgerton, so pretty much everyone knows way more than Daphne did, even if they don't always have formal classes about it! It's also consumed through their media or learned through the culture itself!

which of the ro’s are more likely to claw/scratch a partners back doing the do?

• Lavinet, but only if it's really good
• Tallys, but only if you've been fighting and are having hate/makeup sex
• Ayla pretty much 100% of the time 
• Sometimes Briony, maybe like 20% of the time
• Chase and Blade are more biters than scratchers
• Riel is more likely to leave other kinds of marks rather than scratch marks 😅