Quick note from the author:  I’m doing NaNoWriMo this November, so story updates are being replaced by this rolling interview. where I have the characters answer rephrased versions of questions I got from readers.  Thanks to all who sent questions, and anyone who wants to participate, it will be going on till the 28th.

Also, just general big thanks to all the readers who joined up this year.  Y’all’s feedback keeps me going when I’m discouraged, and your recommending the blog to others on reddits and message boards, upvoting on TWF and other similar things is definitely what drove the big jump in readership this year..

*************************************************************************************Question for Haunter:

You recently discovered that a more freeform version of your rotation holds sway by night, and it was pivotal to your victory over Death.  Do you have any plans to incorporate ideas from it into the arrangement which you enforce while conscious?

Answer:

I haven’t had a lot of time for contemplation and reorganization since then, but my current stance is that the waking reserve needs to stay intact.  I set it up to make sure that no ones voice can be silenced.  I think it acted like something of a safety net as far as the nocturnal setup goes.

Everyone knows that whatever goes on during the night they will still have their guaranteed time in my rotation during the day, which frees them to try out more exotic arrangements.

I’m not sure if that is entirely the case, but when I asked Joey about it I discovered that the notion of changing the structure of the daylight rotation is a bit of a radioactive third rail to the community.  Everyone has terribly strongly held positions on the matter, and there are elaborate safeguards to insure that if I was ever briefed on the alternatives each would get its most eloquent advocate.

Amusingly, it seems the only topic more fraught is the idea of me getting laid, which is apparently the single most pressing topic of concern to a surprisingly large segment of the reserve.

Question for Indulger:

You seem very concerned about the lives of the Pantheon’s warriors, and have driven your team to take great risks to preserve them.  Do you have any similar care for the Union civilians who are being attacked?

Answer:

Yeah, I don’t think it is right for people to get hurt.  Or, well, I guess what I really mean is for people to get hurt who don’t choose to run that risk.

Like, the way that I think of it is that the fighting should all be done by people who are up for it, and then all the people not willing to fight will have to listen to the winners of that fight.

I’m not saying that the winners being in charge is good or whatever.  It just seems to me like if you try to put someone else in charge they will fight, so you might as well let the best fighters who care who the leader is run stuff because otherwise you just end up there anyway with more people getting hurt.

So, yeah, I am worried about the Union humans.  They are in the same category, to me, as the kids from the Pantheon’s camps.  None of them wanted this.  Their only other choice was to die.  So I want to keep them safe.

I chose this.  The people who are mad into it on both sides chose this.  We can settle stuff, leave the people who don’t want to fight out of it.

Question for Preventer:

Why don’t you carry bombs, poison gas, or other indiscriminate weapons with you? It seems like the obvious way to exploit your invincibility.

Answer:

I used to toy around with similar ideas.  Back in Shington I had a fairly good relationship with Adder, and I could have gotten my hands on all kinds of stuff without much drama.  He was always obliging if I did something for him, or rather for someone he was trying to help.

But I never really saw the advantage there.  I feel like, with my gift, I shouldn’t be afraid to spend time on things.  If I want to dismantle something, I don’t need to blow it up.  I can get it done with a shovel and some time.  If I want to hurt someone, I don’t need poison, I can just shoot them.

To be honest, I don’t even keep my gun ready to fire.  I have tried to train myself think before I do things, to consider matters fully and only then to take action.  I don’t like to make things irreversible.  I try to leave a way to back out of any situation.  Bombs and stuff like that would just tempt me to use them.

Question for Condemner:

Are Entities able to pick what person they join with?

Answer:

Yes, but they rarely have enough information to make that a meaningful decision.  They are just picking out of a list of forms that all look pretty similar from their vantage point.

They get a brief ‘glimpse’ of the humans that the Inviting Entity has raised up during a particular time period, and they choose their favorite and link up.

A given entity certainly COULD examine the world and get a preference for a particular human, but very few would bother.  This performance isn’t going to last forever, they want to get in and start gathering experiences as fast as possible.

To be honest, the whole notion of identity is a bit odd to them.  Preferring a particular person would be more about envying their situation, rather than anything intrinsic to the human.

Question for Fisher:

How freely can you alter your forms?  Is there any battle application to this aspect of your power?

Answer:

I can shift their size in the space of maybe an hour or so.  It takes concentration, and it is a little painful, but it isn’t really ‘hard’.  It is a matter of having a different context in my self image, if that makes any sense.

Shifting their design, like changing the Lure’s hair color or adding an extra horn to the Hook is much harder.  We are talking about days, and I have to be disciplined and careful during that time.  It is about changing the way that I think of myself, altering my self image and then waiting for my gift to catch on.

I have never bumped up against any limits.  I suppose there must be some, but I haven’t ever really sat down and experimented to try and find them.  Seems like something I ought to do.

I don’t think there is any way to use this during a fight.  Too slow.  But, thinking about it, if I used it in preparing for a fight I might be able to have two Hooks, or something similar.  I could definitely stand to look into this.