Author Answers (January) (Patreon)

General

Hiya Lena. I love how each of the significant characters have a tarot card. I've been wondering about the MC and think the "Wheel of Fortune" would suit them. Is there any tarot you'd personally say suits the MC? Or is it very much dependant on the character the player creates?

Hi Cattrocious, I'm so glad you like the tarot cards! You actually nailed it dead-on with MC as the Wheel of Fortune, since that's what I put for them in this post about the characters' tarot arcana, though here I also said I could see them being Death, or possibly the Lovers! It definitely is malleable depending on your MC's personality, though! But given what we know of them now, the Wheel seems particularly fitting... 

What would the ROs carry to remind themselves of the MC? Like a scarf with their scent, jewelry, etc.

Blade: I feel like it HAS to be something he'd wear strung around his neck so he'd have a low chance of losing it, so probably something like MC's Candle Day talisman to him or something similar, some kind of pendant or protective charm! Or maybe a packet of their letters tucked against his coat's inner chest pocket?

Trouble: he's totally the type to wear MC's ring on his thumb or a bracelet they made for him on his wrist! 

Tallys: she'd totally wear an Elven pendant or choker with a message from MC engraved on the back/inside!

Shery: once in a relationship, she'd definitely sleep with an article of clothing from MC or sleep with MC's pillow (so long as it had her scent!)

Riel: I could totally see him discreetly carrying a scented pocket square or a handkerchief with MC's cologne on it while he went about his day-to-day!

Chase: he's probably a ring or a scarf guy (assuming both were gifts from MC), but I could also see him getting a tattoo (not of their name, but something symbolic that makes him think of them) once he finally accepted his position at King Simp 😭

Red: this always makes him feel really corny, but he always had ideas of making a magical focus out of a lock of his lover's hair (something that innately ties them together so he can always track where they are if they get separated, something like that). So a bracelet or a locket with a strand of MC's hair might be in the cards for him!

Ayla: she'd basically carry whatever they saw fit to give her, but a little locket with their picture on it seems very fitting for when she's away from home! If not that, then maybe a trinket or precious stone tied around her wind staff, which is the one thing she'd never lose? 

Briony: I feel like she'd totally be the type to exchange rings with MC and always wear her ring and stare at it whenever she missed MC! I could also see her wearing a bracelet or an armband or a ribbon in her hair that they gave her!

Lavinet: obviously she's going to wear all of the fabulous jewelry that MC has gifted her (hint hint), but when he's away I could totally see her sleeping with one of his shirts with his scent on it!

Hi!! would the ROs want to move in together asap or take it slow? How quick r they to make space in their rooms in you will and like excited by the mundane domesticity (⑉• •⑉)❤︎

Blade: he'd be wanting to spend every night together immediately, but it would probably take him probably a week or two to "officially" make space for MC's things in his quarters after entering into a formal relationship together, mostly because it's going to take some maneuvering to make sure people don't somehow notice that MC has taken up residence in the Commander's quarters on an entirely different floor...

Trouble: he's so amped to finally be in a relationship with MC that he'd be surprised if they DIDN'T immediately move in together (or spend so much time sleeping in each other's rooms that they would essentially be living together). He's clearing space/expecting MC to crash in his room (or to let him crash in theirs, whichever) every night from the moment they first spend the night together! 

Tallys: they'd definitely maintain separate quarters for the entire time they were just FWB (so almost no waking up together, they depart to their separate rooms when the fun is over), but after officially entering into a relationship, she'd be content to move in right away if MC was! If MC wasn't, though, she'd also be fine with that! I think her preference would be a kind of slow, piecemeal transition where more of her things slowly and gradually show up in MC's room (or vice-versa) by necessity over several months, so by the time they're actually living together, they hardly noticed it happening! 

Shery: I think it would take her at least 3-5 months to warm up to the idea of living together after first starting to officially date; it's just not her first instinct, and since she's new to dating, she'd prefer to take it slow and not rush every milestone and skip straight to the part where they're cohabitating and basically already married! I think she could happily wait 6 months to a year to "officially" move in together, though sleepovers would be more common over time!

Riel: he's going to be maintaining his own space for a long time, and he needs a lot of it! While sleepovers are definitely in the cards, he's still going to officially maintain not only his own room, but his own house outside of the Shepherd headquarters for the duration of their relationship. MC is welcome to move into his manor whenever it's convenient for him (MC)--Riel doesn't even have to make space, there's plenty of it! But MC will also have to understand that Riel needs plenty of his own private space, so moving in together won't necessarily mean they'll be spending every waking moment together, either. But he'd be ready for MC to move in to his house like a month in!

Chase: in an FWB relationship, while they spend every night together, he's probably slipping off most nights to his own room after MC falls asleep. After officially dating, I think he'd start keeping a lot of his stuff/toiletries/clothes in their room for convenience's sake pretty much immediately, but it's doubtful he'd "officially" move in (or vice-versa) until they were both ready to take that next step: maybe 4-6 months in?

Red: he's probably on a similar timeline to Chase: he likes having a room and his space to himself when he needs to work in private or just needs a place to retreat to and be alone with his thoughts, so while he'd be sleeping over at MC's frequently (or having MC sleep over at his), and they'd be keeping day-to-day stuff in each other's rooms after a few weeks, it would probably take him somewhere from 4-6 months (at the earliest) to be ready to "officially" and permanently move in!

Ayla: she's already make herself at home and comfy starting on the first night of them officially being in a relationship!

Briony: it'd probably take her like two weeks of dating to propose moving in together 😂

Lavinet: she'd expect MC to be sleeping in her room every night pretty much right away, and if he wanted to move in to her room immediately, she'd be all for it! She wouldn't necessarily be the one to say it that soon, but the more time she has with MC, the better; if he didn't say anything about it, it would probably take her around 3 months before she brought it up herself!

Hello! You know the question from last months (?) Q/A about how the ros would react if MC and their friend had a baby? Could we please get Halek and Chase’s reactions as well?

Chase: he'd be happy for the couple and mildly excited about the propsect of having a baby around--maybe intrigued is a better word? A baby is definitely going to change the vibe of the friend group and is terribly "adult-y"--no more asking Trouble to accompany him on a bender around town, basically--but hey, a baby to be a cool uncle to! That could be fun!!

Halek: like Lavinet and Red, he'd basically be at a normal level of polite excitement, like wow, congratulations! that's awesome! Secretly he's sort of hoping he's not prevailed upon for babysitting duties (or that the little tyke is going to be screaming while he tries to sleep) but otherwise he's just happy for the new family!

I’m absolutely in LOVE with habunes and want 12 of them. How would the shepherds (including Mimir/Halek) treat one of these little guys if mc asked them to watch it while they were away on a mission?

(I want twelve of them too! 😭) 

Blade: he's probably the last person you should ask to watch your habune, because it's technically against the rules to own a pet that could get out and wreak havoc in the walls like a rodent, so it's probably not a good idea to ask your Commander to do this for you! But if we ignore that, he'd probably diligently feed and water the habune per MC's instructions and let it out to exercise a bit while he did some work at his desk. He might even grow to like having it around if it was quiet and docile (he's something of an animal lover at heart) and might absent-mindedly let it sit on his shoulder while he's working!

Trouble: okay, at first he would be having the time of his life. Yeah hamster buddy!!! He's going to be carrying it around in his pocket and being like 'hey want to see something cool?' *SURPRISE HAMSTER* and like.... building an entire tunnel-city that runs the length of the fourth-floor hallway for it. But knowing him, something is going to happen--like he puts it down somewhere and when he looks again, it's gone, or he thinks a cat ate it or something, and then he spent like a week feeling like dogshit and frantically trying to make things right before it randomly turned up again--so it'd probably be best for him and the habune if you found someone more responsible to take care of it...

Tallys: she'd be excited and honored to watch your habune for you! she's basically like the resident petsitter (and plantsitter) in the Order, so I think she'd be the best person out of any of these options if you wanted someone calm, quiet, and responsible to look after your pet and make sure it was well looked after! She'd let it ride on her shoulder while she went about her day-to-day, and someone would go, "Um... Captain Ironwood, you have a hamster on your shoulder..." while she's teaching the recruits how to fire a bow and she'd give them a cool stare, like, And what of it? "Never mind!"

Shery: omg omg omg! she'd be so excited to play with the habune, she's always secretly wanted one for herself! She'd almost certainly make little hats and costumes for it... a little scarf to keep it warm... decorations for its enclosure... tiny handmade cake the size of a cucumber slice to feed it... If this were a modern AU, she'd be taking sooo many pictures of it looking cute and would basically be obsessed for the whole time you were away!

Riel: I think he would be mildly horrified by the idea of you asking him to feed and provide companionship to your... rodent. I mean, he can DO it, so long as you don't actually require him to pick it up and hold it. Holding a live verminous rodent in his hands makes him feel queasy 🤢 and the germs!! the poop pellets!! don't ask him to change the straw in its enclosure or play with it or anything. if all he has to do is come in and feed it once a day, he can handle that, but if you want anything else, please ask someone else!

Chase: he would basically be just like Trouble, like at first it's a real hoot, and he gets a kick out of carrying the little guy around and converting it to CRIME and training it to scurry into places and like steal things for him, but is he the best and most responsible option for this?? probably not! is it possible that the habune disappears into the vast array of STUFF that he keeps in his room, a hamster warren within itself? extremely!

Red: sure, he'll watch your pet for you, he already has experience with his owl and that cat he sometimes looks after! he's pretty responsible with it, too, though he's going to have to keep an eye on Archimetius, who is known for snatching up things when he isn't looking, or that cat... it's actually going to be something of a rough time for him, since he won't be able to work with the habune screaming at him every five minutes because it's sharing a room with a literal predator 😅 but he doesn't mind the disruption much!

Ayla: I think she would be pretty nervous and reluctant about this, and might just turn you down! She's never taken care of an animal before, and is extremely dubious about her chances with such a small, fragile creature to boot... "What if I squish it on accident, or something?" She herself would be the first to say that you probably shouldn't give her that responsibility and someone else would be better! If forced, she would be decent at it, but she'd definitely be relying a lot on others' help for fear of accidentally killing the poor thing!

Briony: she'd be jumping up and down out of sheer excitement, she loves animals and HABUNE ARE SO CUTE! she would let it ride on her shoulder and cuddle it and give it smooches and probably let it sleep on a pillow next to her and basically just shower it with love and affection 💖 she'd probably be a little sad when MC came back because she'd feel so attached to it!

Lavinet: darling, no. She's not really a small animal person, and even asking her to watch your dog/cat is a stretch, she's a very busy person and has lots of things to do! If it's just a matter of looking in on it once in a while and feeding it, she can do that, but privately she'd feel a little put-upon, like surely there's someone else who could be doing this!

Halek: yeah sure he'll watch your funky little dude for you. he'd probably just let it run up and down his hands like a slinky all day, just chilling with it. mayhap he will feed it crackers and see if it can tell the difference between different cheeses. so long as it's chill and low-maintenance, he's fine with that! He's pretty responsible when it comes to these things, too, though he'll definitely milk how "troublesome" it was when you come back!

Mimir: don't ever put her in charge of watching an animal, queen! I wouldn't even put her in charge of guarding a door while I was changing :D I'm pretty sure the habune would be gone or dead within a day

Hi Lena, hope you're having a wonderful week and new year so far!:D

My question: Modern AU! The Shepherd's are in middle school, all in the same class or at least year and there is a science fair happening. It's mandatory to participate; what do they bring to the fair, who wins, who makes an abosultely crazy contraption, who cheats/sabotages and who loses?

Hi there, I hope you're having a great new year as well! :) And good question!

Blade: he's always been a diligent student in everything (except his seduction classes RIP), so he brings in a handmade catapult to demonstrate different laws of physics and gets an A!

Trouble: he's a tinkerer, so he probably brings in something quite advanced, maybe a more efficient homemade lightbulb or simple robot or battlebot--but his accompanying paper/poster board is shit, so he only gets an A (or an A-, depending on how harsh his teacher is)!

Tallys: she does something fairly standard, testing how different qualities of water (tap water, rain water, etc.) affect the growth of identical plant seeds, or growing her own ecosystem inside of a sealed glass jar! Solid, dutiful work that gets an A+!

Shery: she creates a small oven that can bake things purely with the power of solar energy and sunlight! It's big enough to bake a single cookie in about twenty minutes 😁 Her accompanying report gets her an A+!

Riel: he invents an app that analyzes traffic data and utilizes flow theory to streamline and suggest better stoplight configurations for the city. He gets an A+, and would have won the entire science fair if 1) the adults didn't suspect a little bit that he cheated or was helped by another adult and 2) if he hadn't made his disdain for something as insipid as a "science fair" and his contempt for the judges so clear in his report and general demeanor...

Chase: he was going to build a Rube Goldberg machine, but he got distracted and never ended up finishing it... he brings in an egg at the last minute and claims that he spent three weeks trying to hatch it but it never did, because of poor conditions and science or something!! He gets an F

Red: he hooks up a machine that reads electric impulses from living mushrooms and fungi, then connects it to a different program to convert those impulses into sounds, creating music from living fungi! Not only does he get an A+, but he also wins the prize for the fair, much to Riel's livid disgust. (It's because he's more charming--even science fairs can get political!)

Ayla: she sort of half-assed it and fashioned a crazy straitjacket-foam-box-thing to protect an egg from breaking when dropped. Because she basically didn't do the accompanying report, she gets a C

Briony: she conducts a test on whether water freezes into different crystals/shapes when exposed to different conditions, such as happy or sad music, or being labelled with positive/negative messages. The results are inconclusive, but she gets a B for effort 😀

Lavinet: she makes her own shampoo, which is kind of impressive on its own, but because it's not very exciting to demonstrate at a science fair, she only gets an A-/B+!

Halek: he makes a baking soda volcano (but reused a lot of Naolin's work from the semester before) and gets a B lol

Hi Lena!! 😄 This is ridiculous, but which KPop group would each of the ROs secretly listen to?

Hi Stephanie, happy new year! 😁 Sadly, I don't know that many Kpop groups, so this is about to be kind of a slim list...

Blade: I truly believe he would not enjoy Kpop in almost any capacity, lol

Trouble: BLACKPINK

Tallys: I think she would enjoy solo artists more, like SOHLHEE!

Shery: TWICE

Riel: absolutely not 

Chase: NCT (?)... Or GOT7?? He'd almost certainly be a fan of Jackson Wang, but other than that, no idea lol!

Red: Girls' Generation (lmaooo)

Ayla: Red Velvet (?)

Briony: Super Junior or SHINEE

Lavinet: BTS

An MC who's got a great singing voice starts humming/singing to themselves while doing some chore. Which ROs passes by and stops in the doorway to watch and listen?

This was answered here!

Spoilers

I hope the first part of 2023 has been great for you Lena! My ask is what would the ROs reactions be to an MC who held a belief (or intuitive feeling if you will) that they would soon have to give up their life for the Shepards' cause and were prepared to do so? Apologies if this was already asked!

Thank you, Jonathan, I hope your new year has been going great as well! And good question! 🤔

Blade: flat denial/protectiveness that brooks no argument, just "that's not happening. I won't let it happen." and that's the end of the story! He will literally die to prevent this!

Trouble: I think it'd be a mix of bluster, bravado, and fierce denial, sort of similar to Blade, but more in the lines of "haha, what are you talking about, you're the Hero of Haven, you can beat anything that comes your way!!... but seriously, nothing's going to happen to you if I'm around! Believe it! 😤💪"

Tallys: uhhh internally, this attitude would definitely unlock primal fear inside of her, since she's already contending with the idea that she's going to lose MC early and she needs to make the most of their time together just by dint of her being an Elf, but if MC thinks their time is like... very soon instead of just soon in the context of Tallys's lifespan, she'd be internally freaking out! On the surface, though, she'd try to remain calm and composed and would just try to reassure MC, like "I'm sure that's not going to happen, we all get these feelings but they don't mean anything" while inwardly trying not to have a meltdown

Shery: she'd be similar to Tallys, trying to simultaneously comfort/allay MC's fears while brushing off the concern as just a random feeling, but internally she would be quite anxious and uneasy! One of her worst fears is remaining behind the frontlines while MC ends up sacrificing themselves out in the field while she's at home!

Riel: I think he would get very sober and serious and ask MC straightforwardly: "Why do you think that?" And he'd hear MC out without necessarily agreeing with them, and then he'd say, "Okay, so how can we prevent that?" Basically focusing on coming with a solution that 1) either makes MC feel safer or 2) actually tries to predict all the ways that MC might be called to sacrifice their life and trying to account for them ahead of time!

Chase: I think he'd try to be light-hearted about it for MC's sake, but he'd be a little soft and tender about it, like, "Well, if you die, I'm not sticking around either, and you don't want me dead, do you? So you'd better live."

Red: I think his focus would be on comforting and soothing MC and making them feel better, rubbing their back and telling them that everything's going to be okay and that it's not going to come to that, and how so many people rely on them that living is much more useful than dying. He'd definitely feel uneasy, but he'd keep those feelings to himself while making MC the priority!

Ayla: she'd probably get fired up about it to hide her upset at the thought, like "uhh are you dumb?? do you really think you could die with me around? What about Blade and Briony and Trouble? You think anything could get through the greatest swordsman or whatever on the planet and still kill you?? That's stupid. We've got your back, so don't worry!"

Briony: depending on the status of their relationship (platonic or romantic), she'd either try to cheer MC up by brushing it off, like "what?? psh, that's crazy!!" or she'd get really serious and say in a quiet, fierce, tight voice: "I won't let that happen."

Lavinet: privately, she'd probably have these fears, too, but she would never let MC know that! She'd probably kiss him and say simply, "Well, you have very good reasons to live," and talk about their future together, hoping that would be enough to somehow avert whatever's coming!

Thinking about Tallys and the romance lifespan issue, could a Word of Power make MC immortal? Or maybe transform an elf origin MC into an elf? Or an elf with magic lol.

Hi there, the Voice actually talks about this in the game after MC touches the luminary and asks, "Does that mean I could use something other than magic, like arma or grace?" Here's the exact text:

The voice pauses, as if surprised by the track of your thoughts. "Perhaps someday," it acknowledges after a moment. "You may have the potential to unlock your other latent natures, for your composition is the foundation of all the Children of Light. Your light is the source from which all other forms emanate. Potential is your very lifeblood; infinity is contained in your soul. As a Godchild, if you were to live long enough, you could hold the ability to eventually unlock any number of powers from within yourself, the same way a master key could undo any lock. You could make yourself into a Ket, or an Elf, or at least learn to use their powers, for you are partly a god and their forms are contained in your likeness and essence. But it would take hundreds of years for you to learn, and you do not have that long—and nor do you have that power to spare, for you will need it in your fight against Tapyt."

So theoretically, I would say yes, given hundreds of years to tinker with it (and enough Words of Power, of course), I think MC could learn how to alter themselves in this way! Could that mean theoretically unlocking the key to immortality, or at least greatly enhancing and elongating their lifespan... or even that of another person's? 👀 Who's to say?...

Has everyday life changed in Haven since Enik was chosen to be the next Autarch? Like are the Inquisitors more zealous/heavyhanded since their leader now sits on the throne so to speak. Are the other organizations like the Shepherds, city watch, trading guilds etc much more cautious in their own dealings as to not draw attention.

As of where we are in Chapter 8, things in Haven itself haven't actually changed too much! Enik has been surprisingly judicious in his dealings and has not started off his reign with the extremism or zealotry that his detractors were fearing; he's mostly been focused on maintaining stability and the status quo after his mother's death and keeping the public calm during his transition. Since transfers of power are always quite delicate, especially in the beginning when the new leader needs time to get his bearings, install and groom his new inner circle/cabinet, and figure out exactly how he's going to do things, he's not drawing much attention to himself by doing really new, alarming mandates. Basically, he just wants the public to return to their business, like "carry on, everything's fine!" until people get used to the idea of him being in charge and are not really jumpy and nervous and skittish. First and foremost, the people want stability and assurance, especially since the Autarch dying always raises questions about their line's infallibility and power... so he'd rather not risk inciting any mutinies just now! As a result, most of the other agencies (the Shepherds, Vice Guard, etc.) have been told to go about their business as usual and have relaxed slightly after the mandatory state mourning period, which was the biggest time of uncertainty and paranoia. Political analysts fear, however, that after that first year of his reign, when people have gotten nice and comfortable--that's when things will really start to ramp up...

If anyone's seeing the most alarming changes right now, it's within the Sun Court and Consortium itself, but because those matters aren't generally known to the public, not a lot of people are plugged in to or are aware of all the crazy things that are happening there. But we're going to get more into that in the coming chapters!

hi Lena, I hope you're having a wonderful day! :) maybe a spoilery question, but I was wondering what you could share about the dwarves and the drakes that are mentioned in ch 8, or if there's a link to where you've talked about it before? I don't recall seeing any info about them in-game and I'm super curious to hear about any lore for them! (same for the faerie as well, if you'd like to include anything for them, but I think I remember hearing them mentioned at least once in-game)

Hi there, dwarves don't actually exist in Blest, so I don't think I've talked about them before! As for the Drakes and other forgotten races like the Asteriae, you can read all about them in your codex after learning about the Elementals in Chapter 6; there's also here, here, and here for the Drakes!

NSFW

How sensitive is each RO during sex? And what erogenous zone is their weak point, like touching it would instantly make them melt (or even cum?) 

Blade: um, in the beginning, he's probably like... a 3... he makes a very valiant effort, but he is a virgin and he needs time not be as sensitive! Over time, he enormously improves his stamina, but he's still more 'susceptible' than one might think! When it comes to his weak point, I think pleasuring MC in certain ways/hearing her moan or react would turn him on even more than the other way around, but probably kissing his knuckles or licking/sucking his fingers would reliably do things to his sanity as well!

Trouble: he's also probably at like a 3 for sensitivity, MC just makes him weak 😂 Maybe a 5 or a 6 on a good day if they've been having lots of frequent sex! I don't know if he has a particular erogenous zone as a weak spot so much that oral is his weak spot... once MC puts their tongue to use, he's done!

Tallys: she's very adept in bed, so she's not so sensitive that a light touch could make her lose her mind! I would say she's probably at a 9 or 10 and doesn't lose her composure easily when it comes to sex! As for specific erogenous zones that she's particularly sensitive to, playing a bit with the base of her spine/her ass is one of the rare times where she'll be vocally reactive! 😳

Shery: she's at like a 1 or 2 for sensitivity, and this probably doesn't change much over time--she's so easily flustered (and horny) that the right touch even in a non-sexual area could do something to her! Her weak spots are probably her breasts and inner thighs!

Riel: He's probably somewhere between a 6 and a 7 on the scale, there are times when he can definitely be caught off-guard and have his mind blown, and other times he can keep his cool pretty well! I'm not sure that specific erogenous zones (maybe his throat or collarbone? or fingers?) are his weak point so much as specific scenarios, positions, or tones are!

Chase: like Tallys, he's probably at like a 9 or a 10, you have to really go out of your way to get him so worked up he'd tip over the edge with only a little help from you! As for weak spots, I think like Riel, it's less about erogenous zones and more about specific sights (he's a very visual guy) or sounds that make him lose it; the sight of a flushed MC splayed out in front of him, for example, or specific noises they were making!

Red: he's probably at a 7, he's not typically a guy who finishes the race really quickly, but he certainly enjoys and will react to a lot of things as well! His weak spot is probably kissing/tongue stuff! 

Ayla: she's at a 5, she can come quite quickly if she wants to (and is probably a little too used to quick and rushed sex to be fully unfazed by slow, luxurious lovemaking), but needs a lot in order to feel fully satiated! Her weak spot is probably her neck/collarbone, light nips and biting, and having her hair pulled!

Briony: she's a 1, she could probably come just from mental stimulation and very light touching alone in the right mood! Her weak spots are her breasts/nipples and her neck and throat!

Lavinet: she's an 8 at the beginning (probably due to overthinking things/being self-conscious about her inexperience) and probably a 6 or 7 the rest of the time, she definitely enjoys things quite vocally, but I wouldn't really call her 'sensitive' where she'll be trembling or crying out at every light touch! Her weak spots would be her breasts, inner thighs, and ass!