Author Answers (November)

General

hi!! how would Halek act in a relationship with the MC?

And from what we have seen of Croelle he doesn’t seem very affectionate lol but how would he react to a MC who is very affectionate?

Hi, here's a bit of Croelle's romance and how he reacts to PDA with MC! To be honest, I don't think Croelle would be naturally very attracted to an extremely affectionate/clingy MC in the first place, but if that was like a big dealbreaker for them--that they'd have to be physically affectionate with him--I think in the early stages of the relationship, that would be a turn-off for Croelle. He HATES any sense of obligation or the need for attachment at first, so I think he'd physically shake even a lover off if they were being too physically needy/clingy/affectionate with him. He's not a super touchy guy! Later in the relationship he'd learn not to mind it and would tolerate it--maybe even somewhat enjoy it, after like ten years of being together--but it would never be his #1 priority in a relationship!

As for Halek, I've definitely answered this one before, so if anyone has that link handy, feel free to chime in! The closest I could find is this ask talking about how prone to codependency he is, but yeah, that one pretty much says it all: in a committed relationship, he'd be a patient househusband whose sole job and purpose is making MC's life better, because his life pretty much revolves around them now. 😂 He'd be a fairly chill and contented partner, but very loving and loyal and supportive! He's definitely more of the type to take a backseat role in support of your goals and aspirations rather than taking the lead or center stage in a relationship, so whatever he can do to make MC's life easier, he'll do it! He's like the silent supportive lover who'd privately die for MC, but otherwise he's fairly low-key and low-drama! It's just a quietly practical, no-fuss, and seamless unspoken transition to "you're my soulmate and we're married now" for him LOL!

could you tell us more about Blest’s international relations? The Autarchy seems like an untouchable geopolitical superpower and I just think it’s interesting how it deals with other nations!

Hiya, this is answered in a variety of spots, mainly here (Autarchy vs. Sesz Isles), here (Who are the biggest foreign threats to the Autarchy's power?), and here (What does the Army of the Sun do?). If these don't quite answer the question, feel free to ask again! :)

Could you tell us more about the Tkaan? Have any of the cast met one? Do they have their own kingdom and society or do they amalgamate themselves in whatever culture they find themselves in?

None of the companions have met a Tkaan in person, since most of them haven't had reason to travel to the Sesz Isles and southern islands much, if at all, and you'd have to sort of go out of your way to spot one there! Chase heard of a few being present at whatever port his ship happened to be docked in, but never came across one by chance!

As for their society, the Tkaan tend to be solitary, scholarly wanderers for most of their lives. They don't have their own official kingdom or government, but have a kind of perpetually nomadic/diasporic culture. They believe that the world teaches, and that people only become wise by walking on new soil, so they roam around a lot and meet up with each other only occasionally, usually to share stories and information about what they've learned. They tend to join host societies down south fairly easily, communicating by way of sign language, gestures, and writing, and ply various trades like herbcraft and medicine, gardening and groundskeeping (there are a lot of Tkaanti gardeners in the Sesz Isles), and historical documentation and transcription. When they do meet up, settle down, and/or start a family, then they'll settle in one place, but you'll often find them in bigger cities, occupying a little enclave of households in a single neighborhood or running a communal lodge that doubles as a hostel for travelers. There are some dozen tiny micro-communities on the archipelagos, but each is autonomous and has its own customs, mannerisms, and rites, sharing only a common language family. Sometimes they hold councils or exchanges with each other, but these are incredibly rare, like once-a-century kind of thing. Mostly they're places to hatch and raise young before they set off into the world, but there's not really a formal government or recognized territory that comes with them, if that makes any sense!

Hii, I was wondering if albinism was a thing in Blest? If so, do people with albinism get mistaken for being hunters/of hunter decent?

Hi, albinism is possible in Blest, but it's even more rare than it is here on Earth. Leucism is slightly more common, though not by much! And typically no, people with albinism don't get mistaken for Hunters due to the effects albinism has on their eye color. Leucism might lead to one being confused for a Hunter, but don't forget that Hunters (like Ket, Elves, and Mages) have other features that characterize them, not just the white hair: there are distinct Hunter facial features, bone structure and build, height, and other things like that, so someone who had white hair but was really short or had a really round face might not be mistaken for a Hunter as easily as someone who had white hair but was really tall and long-boned! Hope that makes sense!

Hi Lena! Are you familiar with the Warhammer franchise? I just noticed a few similarities between it and Shepherds and it got me curious!

Hi there! I can truthfully say that I don't know anything about the Warhammer franchise, other than having vaguely heard of Warhammer 40K, which is apparently different from Warhammer itself?? And that they're video games (?) that also have novelized adaptations (?). But otherwise, I don't know anything about the world or lore itself, I've never played any of the games!

For #tellmeeverything - once in a relationship, how often do the characters say “I love you”?

Answered here and here!

Spoilers

Hi! What has been your favorite Ascendency Festival route to write so far? Is there any in specific you're really looking forward to working on?

Hi, thanks for your question! Maybe this isn't the most exciting answer, but I've enjoyed working on all three of the Ascendancy Festival routes so far equally, for different reasons! I think Trouble's confession was my favorite to write so far because it came so easily; Blade's route was also a favorite because I enjoyed putting him in situations that showed a different side of him (especially the baryo charm and mood stone sections); and Chase's whole route was also a favorite because he's just generally fun to write and always makes me laugh--his responses and mannerisms practically leap off of the page! So I liked all three! But if I had to pick one, I suppose Trouble's, especially because it helped set the standard for everyone else's!

I'm especially looking forward to Red, Riel, and Briony's routes moving forward! I'm excited for everyone's in general, but some of the others have question marks I'm still ironing out in terms of the pacing of their romances, so I need to let them cook a little while longer while I decide exactly what to do!

Years ago (I think around 2022 🫣) there was a pair of 'blueprints' of the Shepherd's compound released on Patreon; I know everything's subject to change + it's a magical tower, but I'm very curious as to how the Commander's offices are laid out these days 👀 In the original layout, it has Blade and Riel's offices next to each other on the corner next to the Winter Tower, but I've been dying to know where Commander MC's office is in relation to them 👀👀👀 And no it's not because she wants to plan clandestine meetings with Blade under Official Business Discussions why would you even suggest such a thing I can't believe you what gives you that right 🤥 OH I just thought of something else (feel free to ignore if there are other, better questions!) After Blade's Festival date, I'm dying to know where (if???) he's wearing the frog charm! Is it attached to his belt? On his nighstand? In his pack? My MC immediately attached it to her belt so I'm imagining people meeting this very tattooed and scarred Commander-Legate, fully armed and armored, but with a genial expression and the tiniest, cutest frog hanging from her belt next to a sword from legend. The optics of Blade and MC standing side-by-side in Official Capacity, extremely intimidating, but then there's these miniscule green frog charms hanging off their swords is sending me 😂😂😂

Hiya, fun fact, this map is also unlocked in the Maps tab of your Codex menu in the game! :D And it was always my intention that that blank space underneath Riel's office would be MC's office if they took the Commander-Legate position; I just didn't label it outright because, of course, not everyone's MC becomes Commander, and also you're free to imagine your MC's office wherever! But that's where I imagine MC's office to be in my head!

Also, in actuality, those big "squares" with Blade and Riel's offices are just meant to indicate where those offices are, not that the entire block is dedicated just to their individual office (if that makes any sense)--you can see on the left side of the map that a block of that size can fit multiple offices or medical supply rooms or infirmaries or what have you, so where it says "Riel's office," that's actually a large block of rooms, of which Riel's office just happens to be one; same with Blade's section. So you can also feasibly imagine MC's office going in the same wing as Riel's or Blade's sections, too, if that fits your headcanon better! ;) I hope that makes sense!

As for where he put his baryo charm, I think he initially attached it to his travel pack (same as MC's Candle Day charm if they exchanged them), but worried that something that small would get lost with how his pack gets flung around, so he switched it to his coin pouch instead. 🥹 That's actually the most traditional place for such a charm to go, going by Ket customs, and in his mind it's fairly safe there. So people will only see it when he's taking his money out to pay for something, but not because he's hiding it, but because he's treating it carefully! 😭

How is our boy Caine spending the festival? Hopefully he's not getting into too much trouble.

He's having a grand old time romping around with his friends, eating treats from the stands and watching the street shows and displays! He definitely made them all run back to the Shepherd ramparts to catch the fireworks, so he's back home by the end of the night; no trouble except being hopped up on way too much sugar, I imagine there was some sort of sleepover or ghost-hunting event somewhere high up in the Shepherd tower that night because they were all too amped up to go to sleep! XD

would it be possible to get a small snippet or description of how the non-wallmire ros reacted to the mc suddenly appearing, completely unresponsive, in the shepherds headquarters, or what they were thinking?? <3333

Tallys: she locks in during emergencies, kind of like a paramedic or an ER nurse, so she was just extremely intense and serious and focused, taking charge of the situation and rapping out orders--"Shery, go and get Elemnestra, Trouble, give MC to me and let me check them over"--so she had extreme tunnel vision and stayed level-headed and composed, but fierce with concentration! It wasn't until afterwards, when she was alone with MC in the infirmary, holding their hand and waiting to see if they were going to be okay, that she was able to take a breath and let the mask drop, leaving her shaken and weak-kneed with both worry and relief. I think this was the moment when things became very "real" for her in terms of accepting her feelings for MC have gone far beyond FWB and her fate is full-on intwined with theirs, for better or for worse!

Shery: she was privately in hysterics, but she never wants to make anyone else worry about her or take attention away from MC when they need all of the focus they can get, so she was basically pale and frantic and basically wordless as she frantically tried to help, but inside she was PANICKING and her heart was galloping at a thousand miles an hour! Basically trying to keep her cool and be as helpful as she could be, for MC's sake, but inside she was like

It was actually a little traumatic for her, given her fears about MC coming back injured or dead from the field and without her being able to do anything about it!

Riel: He leapt into action and took charge, but he was definitely more frazzled than Tallys and showed it by being irritable and snapping at everybody. Riel, when he's worried and not in control, reacts by getting extremely overbearing, agitated, and essentially insufferable to be around, so while he was able to efficiently handle things and get MC the help he thought they needed, he went about it in the most transparently discombobulated and snippy way and basically bit everyone's heads off, lol. It got to the point where Elemnestra had to threaten to eject him from the room if he questioned her medical expertise again, lol. But in his mind, he was running at 100% and everyone else was being frustratingly slow and clumsy!

Ayla: Ayla also tends to react to worry by getting angry, so she both started yelling and adding to the general confusion/chaos/panic, and she also started accusing the guys who were on the mission with MC. "What did you do? How did this happen??" Sort of a "I trusted you with MC's safety, how could you bring them back to me like this?? You fuck ups, I'm furious with you??" kind of thing. So she was basically visibly breathing fire at them while clutching MC protectively in her arms like Gollum with the Ring

Briony: She was entirely unhelpful and was basically just hopping around, flapping her hands in distress and babbling rapidfire, like "omg, omg, what's going on, what happened, what's wrong with them, are they okay?? what do we do?? why are they like that, why aren't they waking up? MC???" and basically not letting anyone get a word in! She was in hysterics!

Lavinet: She was more outwardly composed, but she gasped like someone had punched her in the gut when she saw MC, and she rushed forward and basically refused to leave MC's side like she was his worried wife and they were already married lol, she definitely took the position of "refusing to leave MC's side and holding his hand stubbornly and being adamant about staying with him until he woke up". She was also a bit bossy with Elemnestra, again like she was MC's wife and in charge of his care... Poor Elemnestra had to deal with a lot that week, LOL