I like this answer way too much.
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Javi is Asexual? I’m doing the poly route with them and Dom and they say they don’t kiss or sleep with anyone.
In the solo romance path idr them saying anything. Could’ve sworn my MC kissed them??
Yes, Javi is definitely asexual, although I don’t think they’re entirely aromantic. There might be a friendly sort of kiss at some point, I seem to vaguely remember something like that, although I could be entirely wrong, but Javi really isn’t into any kind of physical intimacy.
I’m honestly a little confused how you could have done the solo route with Javi and not had their asexuality come up several times. I’m pretty sure it’s mentioned in passing even if you and Javi never get beyond frenemyship (frenmity?).
Really enjoyed the story and the atmosphere of the game! And I enjoy the way cheats are integrated into the system—it makes it quite less stressful to replay through to experience content we might have missed out on.
It’s mentioned if you’re friends with Javi, during the Festival of Birds lead-up, when they throw the windows open to scare a kissing couple shitless. They basically go “I don’t do any of that stuff, so it’s extra-fun to scare the ones doing it.”
Ibarra shows up the whole of five seconds and is mostly a personality nothingburger when they DO show up, so I don’t know why you’d ship them with anyone. Ship Asher with Hyacinthe instead.
You can’t ship Asher and Ibarra. You can and should ship Asher and Hyacinthe. Hyacinthe is the ballet dancer and melee fighter. Asher is pretty much their support.
Javi is asexual, but open to romance with very limited sexual interaction.
Trevelyan got their helmet crystal shattered by Fabien, and now a faint royal insignia emits from it, suggesting that the Maverick Virus still lives on…
Not sure if it was on my end, but when I got to the save point before chapter four, the game stopped working, and when I tried to reload, it had completely reset my progress back to chapter one. I purchased the game, so it’s not because I hit the end of the trial or anything, and I checked my internet to make sure it was properly connected, so I’m not entirely certain what went wrong?
I’m very sorry that happened! It may have been that the game was updated partway through your playthrough but it’s worth emailing support (at) choiceofgames (dot) com (with info about your device and which version of the game you were playing) to let them know so it’s on their radar and can be resolved if further action is needed.
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No, all the plays are made up.
I thought of Lyan as being vaguely similar to Hamlet. Classic, dramatic, relatively traditional, more or less appropriate for posh 18-year-olds, as opposed to the modern and avant garde play Javi wants to do and the rather gory, shocking play that Yannick wants to put on (which sounds a bit like Titus Andronicus meets Othello). Some fun choices you get to make if you join the drama club!
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@HarrisPS was kind enough to answer some of my questions about the plays when we chatted a bit at the end of beta testing. Here’s what they had to say (shared with their permission):
Rowan Charles is a prolific and very famous Westerlind playwright from a few centuries ago - if anyone knows the name of any playwright, they know Charles, similarly to Shakespeare in our world. Like Shakespeare, Charles wrote a wide variety of genres - The Husband mentioned in Crème de la Crème is a crowd-pleasing, bawdy farce from early in his career whereas Mathieu Avenarius is a more pulpy tragedy and Lyan is a serious character-portrait/war story.
Lyan is about the main character mourning the death of his father, and dealing with taking on new responsibilities during a time of war. Lyan suspects his stepsister of poisoning their father and ends up killing her in an illegal duel. The final sequence deals with him in an agony of indecision about confessing the murder to his loyal companion Aurele and putting the war in jeopardy, or keeping everything secret. It ends ambiguously and a lot of scholarship has been written about what Charles intended to happen after the end. It’s considered one of Charles’s masterpieces - academics and audiences have been excited about it for centuries - and has a long pedigree of famous actors taking on the role. It can be intimidating, though, because there are so many iconic takes on the roles and play.
Mathieu Avenarius is about the main character falling victim to politics, court intrigue, and trauma. During the play, Mathieu spirals into paranoia after his cousin accidentally drowns, becomes convinced that the rest of the court is trying to kill him, and ends up going on a bloody rampage. In the play’s most famous scene, he horrifically and very gorily murders his best friend Chares [and serves them up as a banquet dish, à la Titus Andronicus], and for the rest of the play Chares returns onstage as a ghost whispering in his ear. Mathieu Avenarius is one of Rowan Charles’s later plays, written when they were generally writing more “sensible” work, and some scholars treat it as a bit of an aberration or embarrassment (some even claim it was written by someone else); still, a lot of people celebrate it as an example of a playwright letting loose and really going for a gory, schlocky piece of theatre.
The Butterfly is by Aerni (they do have a surname but are known only as Aerni professionally), a Teranese playwright, and was written in the last few decades or so. It’s about a poet, Grigori, and his tumultuous friendship/rivalry with fellow poet Beau, as they travel together to Jezhan and vie for the monarch’s approval. Amid a whirlwind of rising and falling fortunes for them both, Beau betrays Grigori and makes him destitute, while Grigori must decide whether to forgive them at the end. It’s quite experimental and there’s no hand-holding for the audience, throwing them right understanding complex relationships and conversations about artistic theory. It didn’t get much recognition initially but Aerni, now middle-aged, decided to arrange a new production recently and it’s had a major revival.
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And yes - I was thinking of Hamlet and Titus Andronicus for Lyan and Matthieu Avenarius respectively 
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I know that I’m really late, but I recently started playing Royal Affairs once more, and I can’t for the life of me, figure out how to win Sports Day or the race.
I have selected both Asher and Beaumont on different occasions (assuming that I’d benefit from their athletics during the race) but each time, I end up with my canoe stuck or tipped over; without the flag, and arriving late as the winners are being congratulated.
Anyone have any ideas on how to remedy this? I would appreciate anyone who has any tips or tricks, as I would definitely like to refresh my mind on what it is like to win the race, again.
creme de la creme?
You need to pick options reflecting skills you are good at. For example, when choosing to rush up the tree or go carefully, there isn’t a universal right answer, it depends on how cautious you are.
You can win with any teamate.
A little announcement: I am making an extended epilogue for Royal Affairs which will be a free extra chapter after the end! At the moment my plan is that it will take place one year after the current ending that takes place at Staheli Hall.
I was happy with where Royal Affairs ended, but as I made inroads into Honor Bound, I realised that some of the elements left open kind of… needed to be closed when the Royal Affairs PC is so important and it affects the world so much.
I could have done this by adding a couple of questions to the intro questionnaire in Honor Bound - but no. I wanted to make it more fun and enjoyable for all involved (and also to make more work for myself, heh).
I’m looking forward to returning to the Royal Affairs MC and their companions!
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After spending so much time at Archambault with the Royal Affairs PC, I’m excited for this glimpse into what the future holds. I’ll be looking forward to the update!
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Ah thank you so much, that’s lovely to hear! There was a bit of feedback about the end which suggested people would like more, and my attitude was “that’s great! I’d rather leave people wanting more than outstay my welcome tying up every single thing”… and while I don’t intend to go wildly into the future or tie up everything, I think folks will enjoy what I’ve got planned. As well as helping solidify things about the state of the universe going into Honor Bound and whatever potential future games might happen!
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Did someone say extended epilogue? Sign me up please!
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