Q: Resident Tess fan (fanatic?) here! So we had our second Cecilia chapter that also featured Tess speaking with her in what seems to be an attempt to steer her away from Agrona and his manipulations, if with what seems to be little success. Was the general plan for Tess to come fully back into the plot after becoming the vessel always in this manner since we had the period where she was mostly just whispers in vol. 9 and then sealed off for vol. 10? And has it been nice writing her like this again after some time? She also gives the feel of being more measured and perhaps mature in some ways from how she sometimes felt during the whispers in vol. 9, which has been enjoyable. Hope we get to see more of Tess as we move forward! Thank you! - Vorvor
A: I won't go into detail about how (if) I planned on bringing Tess back into the story in case it gives any spoilers. As for, has it been nice writing her again, definitely. As for her maturity, there definitely is a part of her that could've gotten more mature from this experience, but I would also say there's an aspect of relativity to consider. Maybe Tess sounds more mature and measured in comparison to who she's always talking with, which is Cecilia. Also, Tessia is in a position where she can't physically do much. Whether it's with Arthur deciding that he has to kill both Cecilia and Tessia, or Tessia still juggling with the thought of never being able to have her body back, this state she is in is forcing her to accept her situation, which oftentimes does build a lot of maturity and tolerance.
Q: Can you remind us of the features and potential of the aether armor used by Arthur? From the different battles we’ve seen so far, the armor only seems to be useful against weak enemies. Cadell, Taci, the Wraiths, Cecilia… every major enemy seems to be able to pierce it. Does it have a secret potential not discovered yet ? - James
A: Aside from the armor being able to help Arthur absorb aether more easily as well as being able to regenerate when aether is infused into it, there is a lot of potential that hasn't been explored in the armor. A lot of people have been complaining about the armor in the recent chapters but the problem with armor on a person who is basically invulnerable (can heal from anything) is that it's redundant. At the same time, if you give the armor too much strength, then it takes away from Arthur's success (i.e. "oh, Arthur only one that fight because of that OP armor. Plz nerf."). I want to create a balance where the armor is a useful supplement to Arthur's kit without overshadowing his abilities... if not for himself, at least for maybe someone else.
If the armor can't be pierced by some of the strongest antagonists in the story (you have to remember we're pretty far into the story now), then what's stopping Arthur from moonwalking to everyone but Agrona and Kezess while taking all their blows and just killing them?
I will say that the armor is still not fully utilized by Arthur, though. But in the meantime, at least we don't have to worry about super-powerful attacks from enemies disintegrating Arthur's clothes and leaving him fighting naked all the time.
Q: It has been said a few times throughout the story and shown through actions like the Victoriad that Melzri sees Nico as a younger brother and treats him as one / has genuine care for him. So does Cecilia not know about this? Or just not care and think she was cruel anyways? - Toby
A: I think Cecilia's attitude toward everyone that's not Nico is complicated. Cecilia is half on copium, trying to think of this world as a big state of limbo where she just needs to complete this grand quest and she'll be rewarded everything she ever wanted. The way she treats others (as seen with how she regarded Draneeve in chapter 443) is that they're not important. They may as well be NPCs to her, especially those that she thinks are significantly weaker than her.
Q: So, I have a few questions. First, what exactly is the legacy and where does her power come from? Second, will there be a way for Tessia to separate from Cecilia, because Cecilia needs to die. Third, Why does Cecilia want to kill and hate Grey so much 😒 when she knows Arthur is innocent and Nico knows the true, but still hates Arthur ? And finally what is Agrona's big bad plan for everything? - Brianna
A: I just emailed you the answers to these questions as well as the outline for how TBATE ends. Please don't share.
Author-Related Questions
Q: Will you be attending SakuraCon again in 2024? Would love to make the 9hr trip to meet ya! - caymar
A: I can't say for certain what my convention schedule will be like for next year. But if I do end up attending, I'll be sure to let everyone know through my website and socials!
Q: Do you ever get discouraged when people don't agree with the direction you take in a chapter/arc/storyline? I noticed a lot of negative comments with the Cecil fight in particular, so I was just wondering how you handle that as you continue writing new chapters. - IMSLiGamer
A: It's definitely a challenge, but I've gotten better at handling this kind of thing over the course of the seven years I've been writing TBATE. With the publishing schedule of this story being one chapter at a time, as opposed to one book all at once, oftentimes I get a lot of readers that feel very intense emotions from reading a chapter and want to vent or gush since that's all they can do without any more chapters ahead. I think what helped me was the fact that I plan out so much farther ahead now and have gone through enough revisions of the volume outline, I'm a lot more confident in myself that how the story is going will lead to a satisfying conclusion of the arc.
Q: Hello Turtle! This question is a writing / author related one. Recently I've been trying to plan a novel, but I'm completely stuck on place / city names for nations. The names you picked for alacryan cities and dominions I really liked and was wondering how you went about coming up with names for them. Names like Nirmala, Maerin, Onaeka, Aensgar, and Cardigan are really good names and I was wondering what process you went through to get these names and get inspiration for them. Thank you for this series, Turtle, and I hope you have a great day! - CZPokeblade
A: There's several ways to do it. The easy way is to go to a fantasy name-generator website and get some ideas there. The medium way is to base city names of your country/kingdom on a real-life country of Earth and model it after that. The hard way (but might pay off more in the long run) is to create some internal logic for your kingdom/country and use that logic/pattern to create city/town names. For example, maybe there's a desert country where its language revolves around having to speak over harsh winds, so "s" and "sh" and "f" sounds are often drowned out. Therefore, maybe hard consonants are used in their language with shorter and "rounder" sounding vowels. Using that internal logic, you can make up city names more easily since there are "limiters" that you've set yourself. Hope that helps, Poke ^^
Q: Do you any of your family members read TBATE? - Hasty
A: I told them about TBATE a little over a year ago. I don't ask if they've read it, lol.
Q: When writing battle sequences, how do you do it? Like this latest chapter you have 3 different fights going on. Do you have first hand experience on fighting or is from all the stories, shows and movies? - Godspell#7785
A: I did a lot of contact sports when I was younger (Muay Thai, BJJ, boxing, wrestling) so I do have some experience, but none in sword fighting. I think reading a lot of how other books describe fights and how fights are portrayed in manga/manhwa really helped me though. I oftentimes sit down with eyes either blanking staring at a wall or just closed, imagining how the fight would go. There are certain pivotal moments and "moves" I want my cast to use so it's all about how I connect the fight to showcase those "moves" along with when to pan from one fight to another.