Q: What is Arthur’s current life span? Is it similar to an asura? ― Quintn
A: Definitely longer than a human lifespan. Lifespan was something I never fully delved deeply into because I wanted to keep that part open. There are hints and some dialogue that may clue you in, but I'd rather not set up a straight answer for how long someone can potentially live. Short answer is, Arthur's current life span extends to the point he dies. 🤷
Q: Hello, TurtleMe I'm a big fan of what you do. Arthur was able to glimpse what was in the fourth keystone, so my question is, according to the last djinn that appeared in the Relictombs they told Arthur that if he manages to decipher this key it will change into something else, would the change be physical or mental? ― Saindou
A: Thanks for being a fan! Your question is a good one, but one I wouldn't want to answer since you'll eventually find out what the keystones will do!
Q: How old is the current Arthur? Just to put into perspective how much time has truly passed. ― Chief Queef
A: I haven't done the exact calculations, but I'm pretty sure around 20.
Q: All the Lance's have been absorbing decay type mana from the horns Arthur gave them. Will that affect their magic in any way? ― Kareem
A: No because the purification process for anyone to absorb mana generally nullifies any special traits of the mana, and the Lances can't utilize the Decay attribute.
Q: How would Sylvie's new ability change Arthur's journey? ― FlakyArtz
A: yes
Q: At the beginning of the volume Arthur notes that Sylvie looks a bit older now. I assumed she looks about two years older to bridge the time she was gone, so about 11. But in 448 Kathyln notes that she looks like a young woman now. So how old does she actually look like? Please Turtle, I can't sleep. ― mbaruh
A: Her physical appearance doesn't correlate directly to the time she was gone. Because when Sylvie first appeared in her human form, she couldn't have been 11 years old. Currently, I would say she looks closer to 14-15.
Q: Will the story develop into some time traveling where they go back to change the present? ― Minassie Gebremeskel
A: Lol... imagine a TBATE sequel where Arthur goes back in time after the end of the series and does this all over again but with knowledge of the future. Then he fails to get the ideal scenario he wanted, so he does it again in "The Beginning After the End After the End After the End." My master plan to milk TBATE ✌️
Q: What percentage of Arthur is Asura? Is his body fully Asuran? if so why don't other Asura's Recognise that? ― ChoccyMilk
A: So just to clarify: Sylvie doesn't give Arthur HER body. She gives up her body so that his can be rebuilt. Because her body contains so much more mana than his, the rebuilt body ends up being more powerful. Almost draconic. And I'm pretty sure I describe it as "draconic" not that he has the body of a dragon. Just that it is like an asura's body. Stronger, etc. So it is something unique to him, not specifically asuran or the body of a dragon but of that nature if we HAD to compare.
Q: On Friday we got the maps for Dicathen and Alacrya… just wondering, in the macro geography, how are the continents distributed? Alacrya west of Dicathen? North? … what about Epheotus? Thank you! ― Gabo
A: Alacrya is Northwest of Dicathen. If there were no other landmasses I'd equate Dicathen to U.S. with Alacrya being where Japan is. Obviously, the continents have vastly different sizes compared to Dicathen and Alacrya, but for the sake of comparison.
Q: In a previous Q&A, you mentioned that your favorite ability of Arthur’s was one you hadn’t introduced yet at that time. How far in advance do you plan out exactly what a character is going to be capable of or what abilities they are going to have? Like for Arthur did you have most of what he would be capable of doing in a list such as having all the keystone abilities planned out or have some of them been ones that came to mind as you kept writing what they run into? And is it similar for other characters? Did you have what Ellie would be able to do and will do in the future all set alongside others like Sylvie, the Lances, Tess, Caera, etc.? ― Vorvor
A: I don't want reveal too much of the magic behind the curtains ;)
Buuuut, I do plan out abilities quite in advance. Abilities, or power progression specifically, is one of the aspects of a story I spend the most time planning out. After all, while TBATE has a lot of components that make it the story it is, power progression is quite up there and I love planning that out.
Q: In a 1vs1 Situation who would win Kezees or Agrona? ― TRY_Demogorgon
A: Paper beats rock, but rock beats scissors.
Author-Related Questions
Q: Have you ever taken aspects of someone you know and created a character based around them in TBATE? And if so, who is the character if they've been introduced already? Cause I know from my own experience of writing, I sometimes do that. Incorporate people in my life as a basis for a character since it makes it somewhat easier to write a character if you already have a real life counterpart to them. ― Marcutio | Godspell | Caera <3 / Q: Which characters are based on or influenced by the people around you? ― Camo7
A: Surprisingly, I haven't. I could see myself doing that earlier in the story when I could be a bit more free in the characters I write, but these days, I think a lot about how different characters would fit well with the already existing cast while also thinking about their background and how that would've shaped their personality. I think Caera was a good example of this.
Q: I wonder if your Korean identity affected to TBATE story, and if it does, how did it affect you/or in the story? ― Ian
A: I would definitely say it did. With Korean culture placing a lot of importance on family, I think that really impacted how I wrote out Arthur and his dynamic with family. Obviously, Arthur has a different upbringing than I had but I honed in on that importance of having a close relationship with family, out of love and respect. Also, some tropes (like a silly father but only to family while being respectable in public, a doting older brother, along with a caring mother who puts her family above all else) came from a somewhat stigmatized but often-seen circumstances in real life.
Also, the fact that I could read in Korean allowed me to read a lot of Korean webnovels and manhwas before they were popular in America and abundantly translated.
Q: Hey turtle! This is another writing related one. I recently got started with writing something I've been planning for a little while. I've got the prologue done but haven’t completed chapter 1 yet. Through when you started tbate and it grew how did you stay motivated to write and how did you push yourself to do so. I keep finding myself getting stuck lol. Thank you for you help last month with the location naming question and I hope you have a great day! ― CZPokeblade
A: I got motivated to write by releasing it on Royalroad (a webserial website where anyone can post a story). Reading comments, whether they were good or bad, and seeing that people continued to come back and read my story really helped me get my writing "foot" off the ground. also, with my chapters already "out" in public, it helped me focus less on what I've already written and made me focus on what I can continue to write. Obviously this meant that the quality in the beginning of the series was a bit compromised (my inexperience in writing didn't help) but I think it really was the fact that I just put it out there that I was motivated to keep writing.
Q:If you were gonna start putting your novel online today which places would you put it for it to have the best chance at success? -id like to know because im about to start releasing my own chapters ― Uthmoney10
A: I'm honestly behind on current "trends" but some places to look at are Royalroad, Yonder, or webnovel for action fantasy.
Q: I can't help but agree wholeheartedly with Regis when he said "Sylvie is amassing quite the collection of mysterious subplots, isn't she?", but it made me wonder: how does one who knows the answers keep track of so many intertwining threads (of fate... 😏) when compiling your story? Must be an arduous task to have constructed all this in preparation for whatever may come next… ― Makato
A: I shall from here on out refer to myself as "The One Who Knows". Like a wiser, less evil version of Voldemort's "He Who Must Not Be Named" lol. I keep track of all these intertwining threads by barfing everything into an ever-growing mess of an "encyclopedia". In the first few volumes, I got away with going back into the story and making sure I'm not missing anything. However, with over a million words, I can't quite do that anymore. I got in the habit of writing everything down on a doc and getting help from my editors in keeping it somewhat organized and also having my editors go through and fill in gaps in information that might be useful to keep track of.
That being said, sometimes, my editors (and some of my cooler readers) remember more details about TBATE than I do.