I like it thanks for considering the matter, of course leaving the door open to players to choose the path they want for their character’s life is great.
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Somebody is already ahead of me when it comes to Creme lore. I also have a very rough timeline of my own version (i.e. Creme style Maverick Hunter). And I would like to see how that timeline compares to mine. For example, the day of Sigma happens on July 4, 2226. Sigma and his followers declare a Reploid rebellion, but you’ll have to read Maverick Hunter to get the details!
And here is a blogpost about monarch of mean Javi! Their storyline went through the most changes since the creation and original plot outline stage of any of the major characters. This was partly due to rethinking the shape of their relationship with the MC. And also (allusions to late-game spoilers follow): in the early planning stages, they were going to be inflicted with some of the same late-game elements that occur to Trevelyan, but I ended up shifting away from that - mostly because it didn’t make sense in a variety of ways, but also because of the outrageous geopolitical ramifications that could result.
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And once again, you have given us a beautiful little blog post full of insight into your creative process, as well as one of your characters.
That’s a tough balance you gave yourself to work with, making Javi just unpleasant enough without crossing the line. I was actually surprised how much I came to like Javi when I got to know them, which sounds like what you were probably going for.
I will say that my reading of Javi probably isn’t quite what you intended. I’m one of the people who feel “seen” when creators include ace rep in their work, even though Javi and I are under very different parts of the umbrella. (I’m demi, not sex-averse.) I saw part of Javi"s antagonism springing from being a young ace forced to be around a person everyone keeps trying to tell them they should marry - but of course, I could be projecting there! In any case, it was a joy to read an asexual character who wasn’t defined by it and wasn’t either a saint or a villain.
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I’m not ace, and I thought this was a reasonable chunk of the reason for Javi’s antagonism, so it’s probably not projection on your part.
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Could you tell me a little more about Teran and your next game?
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What you see in the post you responded to is everything that Mx. Powell-Smith has publically revealed about their next game. They have promised to tell us more soon, although we don’t know exactly when.
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One more week and then everything will be revealed. Be prepared. Expect the unexpected.
Lion King prepared?
Even more so. You’ll never know what’s coming for you…
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My teeth and ambitions are bared.
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I’m planning to put up an introductory thread that’ll explain the premise and briefly lay out the main characters, and an interactive prologue (which won’t be part of the eventual game but is set a few months before it starts, and is a chance to get to know your MC and their situation) on Tuesday 16th 
Then Chapter 1 will go on Patreon in June and in public in July; in the meantime I’ll be posting in-depth character introductions, answering questions, and discussing.
Teran isn’t mentioned all that much so far but there are a couple of minor characters in Royal Affairs who show up briefly and a little bit about the relations between Teran and Zaledo come up a bit in some optional Javi and Fabien chats.
I’ll put these notes behind a tag so that people who want to go in without any knowledge can scroll past more easily as they wish:
Teran notes established so far
Some things that have been mentioned ingame:
- Teran is a republic with a President
- Some people have been awarded the title “Honored”; they don’t have Lord/Lady/Noble titles like in Westerlin
- Teran has a very influential military presence which, though it’s been a long time since deployed in a major way, can and has been used for intimidation purposes
- Various foodstuffs (including off the top of my head coffee, lobster, some confectionaries) exported from Teran and the surrounding area are delicacies elsewhere
- Polyamorous marriages are legal in Teran (as in Jezhan)
A couple of things I’ve mentioned elsewhere out of game or is implied ingame:
- One of the Teranese Islands seceded within living memory (about fifty years ago)
- Current popular artforms lean towards experimental/avant garde (though I’m sure there are a lot of experimental art fans who “liked it before it was cool”)
- In general fancy-person etiquette is more flashy/showy than in Westerlin; a very rich aristocrat in Westerlin is more likely to act “modest” about it and try to make it look effortless (“don’t talk about money at dinner!”) whereas Teran is less like that; as a culture it places more value upon open ambition and the work that goes into material success (it varies a lot on an individual level of course!)
- There is a majority religion, the Church of Teran, which follows the same gods as the Church of Jezhan (as encountered in Noblesse Oblige) but is its own denomination
- Hospitality etiquette in fancy social circles has some variation from Westerlin
I think that’s about all that I’ve said publicly about the place currently - but I’ll be posting more about it on Tuesday!
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It’s all fun and games until the wildebeest stampede.
And last but not least, here is the last in my little series about writing major Royal Affairs characters - Trevelyan.
Trivia: I can’t remember when it’s said in the game and it may be in an obscure branch, but Trevelyan’s older brother is called George, after the late King Georges 
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I always enjoyed Trevelyan, whether as a friend, an enemy, or something in between. I had a little trouble at first accepting that Fabien would really think the greatest threat to the status quo was this mouthy kid, but it eventually became clearer that Trevelyan was more a figurehead than a serious problem, and had taken on more symbolic value than they were perhaps entirely ready for. I can believe Trevelyan would become that kind of figurehead: young, clean-cut, bright, well-spoken. Heck, even speaking against the monarchy while being named Estell lends them a certain rebellious poignancy.
I’d rather like to see what would happen if the two Estells ever met. I think Trevelyan would rather like the Queen as a person, and the Queen would have to admit there was a lot in Trevelyan to admire, if they ever stopped butting heads long enough to get to know each other.
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Trevelyan is also, tbh, sort of a nobody and that makes blackbagging him before he picked up real steam pretty easy. If he was somebody if consequence then his disappearance might actually be noticed and cause a stir. Trevelyan, though? Nobody cared except school friends, and the only reason things happened is because some of those school friends happened to be influential/connected.
So I don’t think he was the biggest threat, he was just a minor threat that happened to be easy to do away with.
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I was queuing up vast amounts of Tumblr asks today and kept vaguely remembering something similar but couldn’t recall the details. So in the first post of this thread, I’ve indexed a plethora of Tumblr asks and answers about characters, setting, what-ifs, and so on. It’s under Extras. Enjoy!
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I’ve had more details about how Royal Affairs sold in its first full month now and am incredibly grateful for how it’s been doing. In November my full-time narrative design contract wrapped up and I took the leap to freelance because of how it worked with my life situation. I knew it was right for where I was at mentally (I had essentially been working two jobs plus parenting for three years and I needed the flexibility to recuperate) but it was still very, very scary because I didn’t know if I could make it work.
But between ratings and reviews and people talking about it, Royal Affairs has found an audience! This makes me feel more secure that this was the right choice, that all this work is paying off, and that I can afford to keep making things I love and feel good about putting into the world.
I’m still doing other game work alongside (work that I really enjoy and will love to talk about… when I’m allowed haha) but I’m so thrilled to be able to focus so much of my time on Honor Bound right now. It truly rejuvenates me and brings me a ton of joy. Thank you for helping make that happen with all of your huge amounts of feedback and support, and helping make the future a less scary and more secure place 
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Congratulations on your well-deserved success, Hannah!
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Congratulations! This is wonderful news!
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