Author Answers (March) (Patreon)

General

My question is: How much would Zori have changed if they somehow survived the attack? How well would they get along with each of the Shepherds (+ Prihine)?:)

Hi there, your questions have all been pretty much answered in the #Zori tag, including what they would have been like when they grew up, what they would have thought of the ROs who were interested in MC (including Prihine), and what the other Shepherds would have thought of them! To elaborate even more:

Blade: Zori would have admired and looked up to Blade a lot, almost with a case of part envy/rivalry and part hero worship, like "I think you're the coolest person in the world. But I will surpass you someday!!!" Blade would have been mostly indifferent to them. He probably would have thought they were a little bit of a simpleton but otherwise not paid that much attention to them lol

Trouble: he and Zori would have gotten along like a house on fire. They'd match each other's energies and would just be like "yeah!!!!! all three of us are best friends now!!!!!!"

Tallys: I think she would have had neutral feelings towards Zori: she'd treat them with polite respect because they're MC's close childhood friend, but she wouldn't be hanging out with them one-on-one. I like to think Zori would have had a massive crush on Tallys and would have just be like... totally starstruck by her at first sight!

Shery: she would have found Zori a very cheery, friendly, boisterous, pleasant presence to be around, and they would definitely have been close friends! She'd probably always be chasing after Zori like 😥😥 "don't sprint with that, you're going to hurt yourself!!" and always making them baked goods and knitwear and things like that!

Riel: 😒 I don't think he would have been particularly impressed by Zori and probably would have found them annoying as an adult lol

Chase: pretty much what I said here; nice kid, but pretty gullible and a bit too idealistic for his tastes. They would have socialized and gotten together just fine on a surface-level, though!

Red: he would have liked Zori! they'd be friendly with each other and would have a mutual passion for adventure and exploration. There might be some tension there over who is really MC's closest childhood friend, though?...

Ayla: Zori and her would get along well; Zori could be the calming, sunny presence Ayla needs to not have a conniption or just start swinging fists when angered, like obliviously chirping "it's fine, it's fine, let's just go get ice cream!" while she's fuming at someone for talking rudely to her in the street!

Briony: they would have gotten along like gangbusters, and I think Zori would have a lot of fun teasing Briony and deliberately getting rises out of her, and she'd play along with really dramatic, overblown reactions for their amusement!

Lavinet: I think she'd suspect that there's more to Zori than the guileless, happy-go-lucky, loud demeanor they'd put on as an adult; I think they'd be cordial with each other, but not particularly close friends!

Prihine: if we imagine that Zori and MC were both hired to guard Prihine, I think they would have been fired immediately because Zori would have either sassed Prihine with something unforgivably brutal, punched her in the face, or stuck one of her expensive clothes in dog poop the second she was rude to MC LOL Zori definitely wouldn't tolerate that kind of behavior!

Lena, your world building is amazing aaaaaaaa. Lowkey I would buy a book about Haven's lores and SHoH worldbuilding and simply read it all the times.

#tellmeeverything How does income tax/filling tax work in Haven? Is there an income tax bracket? like the US where you pay % tax based on your income? What about sale tax, capital gain taxes, estate taxes, luxury taxes, etc.? What are the taxes benefits that ppl can claim? (Married taxes? Totally want this to exist so my MC can use it to propose to Riel)

Thank you so much, this is such a nice compliment to say! 🥺 A book like that would be super fun to make!

And good question--I'm very hazy on taxes and haven't thought much about them (and math and finance are my worst subjects, lol, which is ironic considering my partner is learning to become a financial advisor LMAO), so take this with a huge grain of salt! I mostly imagined the tax system of the Autarchy as being some mix between that of ancient Rome and Norman-era/medieval England-ish. There isn't a progressive (scaling) income tax or many of the modern taxes you list out. Most of the Autarchy's tax revenue comes from:

• Capitation tax

A flat annual tax that all citizens of the Autarchy pay upon reaching the age of twenty (the age of majority). This is the same for everyone regardless of income or resources and isn't considered an insane amount--maybe like the equivalent of 100$ a year? Which, granted, is a lot for someone very poor, but there are also exemptions granted, for example if you have a reason that precludes you from work such as a chronic sickness or devoting your life to charity. Notably, soldiers and certain government officials are also exempt from this tax.

• Land tax (for rural areas)

This is levied against landowners and is calculated and adjusted annually according to valuations, economic conditions, crop yield, etc.; it's usually determined by either the ruler of the fief your land is on (aka Lord Naveen of Lockwood), the greater holding-ruler that incorporates that fief (whichever holding Lockwood is on; I think it's the Barony of... Tlanth? I don't remember at the moment), or the magistrate or governor of the territory you reside in if you're not a tenant of a specific fief (farms in the valley outside of Ambryn, for example, pay their taxes to their local magistrate or to the lord-governor of Ambryn, depending on what applies; the same goes for Haven and the farms of the Sun's Embrace, because the land they farm isn't ruled by a fief). If that all sounds convoluted, it is; how the fiefs and holdings work is better explained in a codex document that unlocks sometime in Chapter 6!

This land tax is typically a percentage of that land's value, profit, or yield, depending on whatever is decided for that region.

• Citizen tax and tributary tax (for urban areas)

If you're a registered citizen and resident of a major city (either by dint of being born there, owning or officially renting a home there, and having your name and identity put into the registries), you pay an additional citizen tax to live there, ostensibly to fund the public services and elevated status you have access to as an official resident of that city (Vice-Guard, Fire Brigade, etc.). This is also collected annually (usually at the same time as the capitation tax) and varies depending on what city you're living in. If you don't pay a citizen tax but do a lot of business in said city (say if you're a mercenary whose main base of operations is out of Haven even if you don't officially live there, or a trader who does a lot of business in Capra), you may be subject to other taxes called tributary taxes, which may involve something like 5% or 10% of the profits of each transaction or contract you earn (if you're working through official channels, of course, and not back alley deals). Because the flat citizen tax is usually cheaper than the tributary taxes, especially if you do a lot of business there, sometimes it's just better to settle in that city and become a permanent resident there, which is usually the point. And again, sometimes exemptions are made for certain people, professions, and situations!

• Customs duties

Merchants and traders are required to pay a tax on goods that they import into or export from the Autarchy. These taxes were designed to generate revenue for the government and protect domestic industries. These taxes are higher on non-essential luxury goods and lower for basic necessities, so this is where things like luxury taxes come into play!

• Judiciary taxes

Legal fines (like if you get a ticket of 500$ for... speeding) either go directly to the state or is split up between the state and the harmed party (if there is one other than the state). So there is a form of judiciary tax!

• Other taxes

There are some taxes that aren't covered here, including inheritance tax (different from an estate tax because it's the person who's inheriting that's being taxed, not the estate) and an auction sales tax, but these aren't implemented except in times of dire need, such as warfare.

All of this tax revenue typically goes towards the upkeep of public infrastructure like roads and buildings, funding things like the Army of the Sun and the Vice-Guard, the creation of public works, the establishment of trade networks, and stimulating the economy. Typically, most of the revenue goes to different tax officials; if you're a tenant of Lockwood, you're paying things like your land tax directly to Lavinet's family, who will use the tax revenue to keep the roads of Lockwood safe, hire a private army for the fiefdom, and etc. If you're a citizen of a Ambryn, you're paying that tax to the treasury of the lord-governor of Ambryn, or etc. Interestingly, while each of the people receiving these tax dollars is also responsible for sending a portion of them to the Autarchy (aka the federal government, for the upkeep of "federal" infrastructure and services--the Army of the Sun, the King's Road (basically a highway that stretches across the Continent), etc.), the exact amount to send to the Autarchy's treasury and its cabal of trade ministers is left up to the individual! It's not directly outlined or specified. This becomes a psychological mind-game for all of the politicians, aristocrats, and government officials working under the umbrella of the Autarchy; if you send too much of your revenue to the Sun Court as part of your federal taxes, you risk bankrupting your city or fiefdom or territory; but if you send too little (or markedly less than your rivals or fellow magistrates), you risk appearing disloyal or even seditious to the government. It's kind of fucked up, but it's worked so far!

I haven't thought too much about tax benefits other than knowing certain government positions and jobs are exempt (Shepherd officers don't have to pay a capitation tax and have a greatly-reduced citizen tax); married couples do get reduced taxes in both, though in some crowded urban areas, it's called a household tax reduction and applies to all members of a shared household rather than just the married couple. So if you + your spouse + your adult child live under the same roof and can prove that you share the same residence, all work, and live as a single household, all three of you may qualify for a tax break. The same can go for long-time roommates or friends who live together, though married couples do still receive the largest reductions!

Obviously that's just the brief rundown because tax and economical stuff is myriad and complicated, but hopefully it all makes sense! Thanks for reading!

What is the most absolutely bonkers ask that you've gotten on tumblr?

Hmm, this is hard to say because I separate "bonkers" into a few different categories lol!

There are some asks that are pretty funny to receive, but so random and mind-boggling that they briefly stun me; like more than one person has sent an ask along the lines of "Wait, Caine is 12?? I thought he was a romance option!!!" or "Caine is a little boy??" lol! And I think someone also confused Ebert for Blade once 😭 Those are hilarious but harmless!

Then there are really hyper-specific, often really intense scenarios that I just don't know how to answer; some are like "how would the ROs react to an MC who refused to bathe and never ever washed themselves and refused to eat silverware and ate like an animal" or "how would they react to an MC who didn't experience empathy or love and was fine with murdering people or kicked puppies for fun" and I'm never sure what else to say besides "they wouldn't like that!" Two of the most uncomfortable ones in this category (that I can remember off the top of my head) were [trigger warning: suicide] "how would the ROs react if they came home after getting into an argument with MC and found that MC had committed suicide because they thought RO didn't love them anymore? Bonus points if MC dies in their arms." and the follow-up was, "How would the RO explain that to their child with MC?" I think I got another variation of that like two weeks later, but it involved MC committing suicide after finding out that their RO had cheated on them!

Also "which ROs would let me piss in their mouth?" 😭

And then there's the extremely nasty, aggressive, or downright offensive kind of bonkers, which I've received a lot of over the years, but which there's way less of now that I've learned to just block on sight! This can range from reading way too into a casual response, like this:

Like, I... I know he's a complex character, I'm the one who made him that way! 😅😂 But then the spectrum tends towards actually insane, WTF asks like this (content warning: anti-gay trolling):

Like... what the actual fuck...?? I remember getting this and sitting there for a few minutes just totally speechless... it's so unhinged!

I've actually gotten far worse than this, but these were just what I happened to have on hand in my screenshots folder lol! And I'd rather spare you guys the vitriol anyway, most took place years ago! 😅 But yeah, other than the messages randomly wishing death on me or calling me names or trying to pick fights with me or being kind of unhinged/creepy, that's what I can remember off of the top of my head!

Spoilers

hi Lena! I hope you're having a good day, and that your birthday went well 🖤 I'm not sure if either will come up in a future day off scene w the loml that is Ayla Aescar, but I was wondering why Belnus left her and how old she was? I've been imagining that was pretty young, but that's it lol. also wondering what it is she has in mind if she does find her parents! does she want to lash out for the abandonment? maybe reunite with them? get answers? maybe she doesn't know what she wants? she's my fave so she's always on my mind lol

Hi there, thank you so much for the kind words--my birthday was great!

And this actually will come up in later day off interludes with Ayla, especially if you were also trained by Belnus, so there are [SPOILERS AHEAD] for anyone who would rather wait for that! But to answer your question... This isn't going to paint Belnus in a very flattering light, but (until he met MC), he was a dedicated wanderer who refused to stay in one place for very long. He was very adamant about being a loner, not necessarily for any reason other than the fact that he wasn't really concerned with anything except for looking out for himself and doing as he pleased. He came across Ayla because the tribe she was living with in Jalis wasn't really sure what to do with her. She sort of lived alone (or drifted from household to household in the evenings but was left alone during the day) and was fed out of charity by families in the community who couldn't afford or were unwilling to officially adopt her full-time; but her Mage powers were starting to manifest, and they saw this old Mage guy passing through one day and kind of desperately were like "hey uh can you take a look at the local wild child because we have no idea what's up with her--is she going to turn out to be dangerous and do we need to drive her away before that happens??" Sad, I know, but they were fairly superstitious, hadn't seen a lot of magic like Ayla's, and she was a difficult, suspicious child to start with, so they turned to him in a moment of desperation and asked him to just take a look at her and tell them what was up in exchange for a night of hospitality under their roof. So then he goes and looks at this poor, dirty, bedraggled, defiant, spitfire Zephilim kid, sees that she doesn't have anyone to explain to her what's happening to her or how to control these powers of hers, and he finds himself moved by rare pity and compassion. So then he tells Ayla (without a lot of preamble or ceremony) that he's taking her on as his apprentice; she's like "who the fuck is this random old guy? no"; he starts teaching her anyway; and begrudgingly, after a long period of grappling with each other for Ayla's trust and compliance, they start to work on her magic together and he starts looking after her full-time in an abandoned hut on the outskirts of town.

This starts when Ayla is 8, and Belnus fully intends to move on in six months, once he's determined that she's mastered her magic and won't hurt anyone by losing control of it. He doesn't want a child, a student, or an apprentice; he just figures he'll do this nice thing and then move on before anyone gets attached and go back to his old grumpy bachelor nomad lifestyle. He's also fully clear to Ayla about this, but, being family-starved and lonely as well as pretty young, I don't think she really digests this and is like "yeah yeah, okay now can you tell me about flying again?" and just sort of brushes it off every time the topic comes up.

Six months actually stretches to a little more than a year in this way, and they're actually pretty comfortable with each other by the time trouble comes knocking. But Belnus has stayed in the area for far too long, and the local warlord has finally caught wind of the fact that a Mage is living nearby, and he sends some thugs over to entice Belnus into coming to work for him as his kind of lackey Court Mage; having someone who can set fire to your enemies would be really great if you're a small-time warlord, right? That's when Belnus knows it's really time to leave, and so, sticking to his original resolution, he packs up his things and moves on, rationalizing that 1) he never wanted to take on a child as a permanent responsibility, especially once he got back on the road, and 2) Ayla would be safer and happier in her hometown anyway, not constantly on the move wandering around aimlessly with an old man. He also underestimated how attached Ayla would be to him because she always acted very standoffish and constantly gave him a hard time and acted like she genuinely didn't care about him, and he also wasn't very good at figuring out people's emotions. So, after a year, one day he's in Ayla's life, and the next day, he's gone. (You can guess how many layers this added to her psychology and subconscious later in life, especially when she recalls how difficult she was to live with and the fights they would get in and wonders if that had anything to do with it...) He didn't just up and leave without saying goodbye to her, but it did all happen pretty fast; one day the warlord's goons show up and subtly threaten Belnus, and three days later he's packing up his stuff matter-of-factly like "Welp, the day we all knew was coming has come! Goodbye and take care, kid."

Just from this story, Belnus comes off as pretty callous and cruel, but I can't claim that he was ever a really loving, sentimental person, nor did he ever think his 'fate' in life was to become a foster-father for an orphan; he just didn't want that role and always made it clear that he planned to move on once he was satisfied that Ayla was competent with her magic. He really valued his independence and could seem gruffly heartless and almost misanthropic towards other people, though of course he could also be begrudgingly caring in his own way!

So he goes on his own way, and if essentially abandoning Ayla haunted him or left him with regrets, he never spoke of it to anyone. (Though I think there's a part in Chapter 3 where Journeyman!MC briefly wonders if they've heard Ayla's name before when they meet her!) But when he gets into an accident a few years later that leaves him incapacitated (attacked by a wild animal, hit by a bandit's arrow, fell into a pit and broke his leg, etc.), and another young orphan saves him, drags him home, and helps him recover, then asks him to teach them magic... and he actually decides to stick around this time... did his past with Ayla have anything to do with it? I don't see how it couldn't have!

(It's important to note that Ayla never resents Belnus for this, since he was very up-front with her about who he was and what to expect from him all that time. But she does decide to go looking for him once she's older and capable of truly fending for herself, deciding to make her way out into the greater world by following his trail and trying to see if she can catch up to him and just... show him that she turned out all right. That's actually what brings her over into the Eastern side of the Continent, which is how she ultimately meets MC!)

As for your second question, I don't think Ayla herself knows what she'll do if/when she does find her parents! Right now, I think her primary concern is just getting answers. Why did they abandon her? If they had a good reason for it, I think she'd be willing to forgive them. If they did it for selfish reasons, then she can get closure and write them off as people to not give a shit about any longer and finally start living her life without questions plaguing her. But she wants to hear the answer first before she'll know how to react or judge. I think deep down she really hopes it was for a good reason so she can have a happy reunion with them, but she's also realistic and jaded enough not to expect this, just hope for it! Hope that answers all your questions! :)

hello lena, #tellmeeverything! firstly i hope your birthday was wonderful and that you are doing well! i was wondering if blade was unique with turning his back on the ket? have there been other assassins who nope’d out of there, and if so, what’s done to bring them back? like, what’s being done to get blade back, if anything? or was blade defecting sorta unprecedented and so there’s no real guidebook for it? (also has blade ever actually been attacked since and just not telling anyone?)

Thank you so much for the kind birthday wishes! And it is extremely rare for Khehi-Ket to desert their city-state: they have so much social and cultural conditioning to instinctively obey their superiors as well as possess undying devotion to their state that there are probably only a handful in each generation who end up leaving like he did! So I would say he's fairly unique, but the action isn't so unheard of that there isn't a protocol in place to deal with these situations! In short, there is a guidebook!

Most of the time, if assassins or other Khehi-Ket desert, their circumstances are reviewed by their Drasil or Pax. If the situation is reparable (say a common footsoldier went AWOL because he was traumatized from losing his whole team and couldn't fight anymore, etc.), a retrieval team might be dispatched to bring him back. If he put up a fight with them, he'd be killed on sight; but if he surrendered willingly, he'd most likely be punished/court-martialed as a formality (a public disgrace on its own), but ultimately allowed to serve again if he wanted to, or just live in the city as a civilian. In rare cases when the city-state is sure that he won't give away state secrets (either because of his loyalty or because he never had access to begin with) or won't act as a turncoat, and typically if a superior vouches for him, he might simply be allowed to leave without the need for retrieval.

In the case of assassins, there are always squads deployed to come after them, no exceptions, and 99% of the time it's squads of other assassins who are assigned to kill them. Assassins have so much training, skill, power, and knowledge of their city-state's secrets that the city-state cannot risk them turning against their homeland, working for the enemy, or acting as a leak or an opponent in any way. So they're almost always designated as kill-on-sight in the cases of desertion.

As for what's being done to bring Blade back: these are also big spoilers for his day off interludes, so look away if you want to be surprised! In short, nothing is being done to bring him back... because they don't want to bring him back, they want to kill him. :D If you've been reading his short stories and day off interlude conversations so far, you can piece together that Blade was sent to assassinate the Autarch, changed his mind about it, and then... started working for her, which is NOT a good look to Ygrath and the Ket rebellion........ So all of that paranoia (when he flips the stranger into the stall, or when he gets tense because of the little kids scaling the walls to throw tomatoes) is actually not unfounded; the man has been fending off assassination attempts for MONTHS! He hasn't outright told anybody because it would involve getting into the whole messy backstory and he just doesn't want to get other people involved (imagine the fuss Trouble would kick up and the danger he'd inadvertently draw on himself when he insisted on going after the assassins himself), and he's very torn about it because the assassins are his former comrades and people he trained with or grew up with, so he's conflicted about ending the threat more definitively by killing them in retaliation! It's a whole big thing that MC will learn more about as his character arc proceeds through the interludes. But his nightmare in Chapter 3 should make a bit more sense when you see that the thing he fears is his own cousin advancing to murder him!

How much more of the Rangers of Blest will be in the final game compared to in the current alpha? Cause those cards activated a primal urge in my brain to collect, and I sat for about 20 minutes collecting all the cards while making Chandry rich. I'm now imagining going to one of Caine's tournaments and wiping the floor with every single of his friends.

Haha, I'm so glad you were enjoying collecting the cards, I was just looking at them the other day and thinking, "Wait, did anyone care about those except for me" LOL! There are 25 total cards you can collect in the current alpha build of the game, and I think I'll be keeping it that way for the Twine version for the sake of conserving space! So there will be the same number of cards in the final version of the game, most likely, though they'll be actual visual representations that you can click on once you collect them! One never knows, though, maybe I'll add more down the line when the game is more complete or as part of an update! I think the idea of MC silently and religiously collecting all of the cards and then destroying this gang of children who introduced them to MC is such a funny thought 😂

how do you get your recruits to succeed on their missions I feel like I've tried everything but they keep failing the first mission and dying on the second

Hmm, well, I don't think they can die on the second mission (have they even come back from it yet?). But the trick to getting your recruits to succeed is always selecting the right team leader with the particular skillsets for that particular mission! So the mission with the scholar requires high grades in Riding as well as Diplomacy; for a fool-proof chance of success, I'd train your team in those areas and then pick the team leader with the highest score, who I think is Justyn! Hope that helps!

Hi Lena!! Ik we’re not even done chapter 8, but I love it so much. I wanted to ask, are there any hints or info you could give us for what chapters 9 and 10 have in store?

Ahh, I'm so happy you're enjoying Chapter 8! And I can give you a few small hints about Chapter 9 and 10! Chapter 9 is going to deal with going to the Sun Court to figure out who sent the cursed box to MC through Chandry; I'm pretty sure it's going to involve Lavinet, Riel, and Briony, and is going to deal with a lot of court politics as they try and navigate Enik's new government! I won't tell you too much about Chapter 10 because I think it will work better as a surprise, but I can say that Croelle will feature heavily in both chapters. :) I think it would be fun if Prihine (if alive and interacted with in Chapter 2) could show up in Chapter 9, but it would only be for a short scene/cameo and I'll have to see how the pacing of that mission goes to see if there's time for it! I hope that's enough to entice! ❤️

As a die hard Blademancer and considering the current chapter I have to ask:   How would (sober) Blade react to a hammered MC.   And what would our dear Kortela have to say when it gets out that the Commanders Legate and Polemarch are canoodling?

I think Blade would be content to quietly watching over MC from the sidelines, then stepping in once she was too drunk to go on/on the verge of passing out or doing something she'd regret! Then he'd scoop her up in his arms perfunctorily (or over his shoulder) and deadpan, "All right, time to go home," and just take her home lol!

As for what Kortela has to say, she's definitely going to seize the chance of accusing the Commanders of insidious corruption and favoritism once she finds out they're dating and that Blade gave MC a position of power (in order to make it easier for them to canoodle, she'll say)! This is partly why Blade is worried about entering into a public relationship with MC!

NSFW

What are some signs that the RO’s (plus Halek and Croelle) had spicy time with MC the night before? Who’s suddenly tension-free, who’s walking with a skip in their step, etc?

Blade: It's pretty subtle, but he's notably more relaxed and good-humored, maybe even a little smug! It's not so noticeable that people are like, "Whoa, what's got the commander in such a good mood?" He'll just chuckle more at your jokes instead of staring at you silently until you get back to work, or maybe you'll catch him smirking to himself while he does paperwork, but you won't really know why!

Trouble: he's notably in a great mood and extra energized and invigorated. Like slamming open the doors and going, "GOOD MORNING, WORLD!" or strolling in whistling to himself, straightening his clothes unconsciously. Or giving a big back-breaking stretch and popping his back like "YEAHHHHH.... it's gonna be a good day!" It's pretty obvious he got laid and feels amazing.

Tallys: she's zonked out for a lot of the morning, like she took a sleeping pill and is struggling to stay awake or something; just suuuuuper relaxed, almost to the point of seeming sleepy and boneless! She seems like her head is in the clouds and she's not really listening to you and is a bit dreamy!

Shery: she's all blushy and giggly and peppy, rushing around like a little bumblebee on crack. She has a LOT of pep and eagerness and keeps smiling to herself or holding her hands to her cheeks to cover her blush!

Riel: he becomes very generous and magnanimous. Like, "Aerin, why don't you take a break for lunch and treat yourself to someplace nice? On me." Aerin, eyeing him beadily: "What happened? What's going on?" Riel, innocently: "Did something need to have happened for me to take notice of a hard-working subordinate?" Aerin: "You got laid, huh"

Chase: he's whistling to himself. he's moseying. he's in a benevolent, boastful mood. sometimes it's so obvious that he'll outright tell you, like (throwing himself into seat) "well, I had a great night last night. breakfast's on me, boys!" He also becomes noticeably more clingy and flirtatious/physically affectionate towards MC, like chasing them around trying to finagle Round 2 because he's a hound for more!

Red: you can usually tell by the huge, dopey grin on his face. He literally can't not smile and walks around humming to himself like he's floating on clouds. Pan will be like, "Dude, why are you smiling so hard, what's wrong with you" and Red will be like, "What?? (nervous laugh) I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary?"

Ayla: she almost acts like she's hungover because it was sure to be an all-night marathon. Like she's a limp husk that a succubus drained dry. You'll find her draped over the breakfast table exhasuted like 💀 get me an energy drink stat. "up all night at the bar, Ayla?" i was up all night, sure, but not at the bar...

Briony: she's all glowy and relaxed and (if it was really good) maybe even a little shaky, like her coordination is not the greatest and she's walking around a little wobbly--sort of like she's sore, but not in pain! She tends to slur a little bit because her brain's so high from the endorphins, but she's very happy; if she could, she'd probably be purring like a cat!

Lavinet: she'd be incredibly confident, assertive, empowered, energized, and boisterous, like peak ojou-sama mode. It'd be like Limitless where her brain was operating at 110% capacity, and her ego/confidence would be at such an all-time high she might even come off as slightly evil. Like she finishes a mission report in record time and someone compliments her on it, and she's like "Of course! Did you expect any less? (ojou-sama laugh)" and they're like 😅😅 why is she radiating such power today...

Halek: I don't think he would act outwardly that different the day after having sex with MC, lol, outside of maybe seeming slightly dazed, but because he always seems like that, I'm not sure that many people would notice!

Croelle: honestly he'd probably keep MC confined to bed for longer; you probably wouldn't see him because he'd be jealously guarding MC in his lair and refusing to let them leave!