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Questioner

What's next? You have mentioned Traveler's Blade a few times, but are you more excited at the concept of moving on to some new creative adventure?

Will Wight

Alright, so me, just a little about me, how I always am, how I always, always, always, am, is I always, always, always,

(Will debates killing a cow vs. killing pigs. He kills the pigs.  Bacon for everybody!)

I always, always, always want to move on to the next thing.  Always do.  I really am constantly everyday thinking about what the next thing is I can do.  What's a new idea?  I always have new ideas.  I always have new ideas I'm passionate about.  It changes constantly.  I just really like doing new things.  It's just fun.  I like making up new concepts.  That is the really fun part to me.  So, when people talk about Traveler's Blade, that is fun.  That's fun to me.  I have nothing against doing it.  It's just, it's not as fun as doing something new.  And that's kind of what's hard about sticking with a series as long as I've stuck with Cradle.  While I like Cradle, and I really enjoy writing Cradle, and I don't want to stop Cradle, it is still not a new thing.  So I don't want to say I get bored of it; I don't really.  I come up with new stuff, so I wouldn't keep writing it if I was actually bored.  But I want to write something new, right? I want to do something else.  Stretch myself, challenge myself.  Use new ideas.  It's just fun.

Questioner

Are the dragons in the tournament not considered too old?

Will Wight

No, they are not. They are in the tournament because they are not considered too old. They are older than humans would be, but they are not considered too old.

Questioner

Are there any times Lindon or Yerin surprised you?

Will Wight

Characters don't surprise me, how do I put this, this is a hard thing to explain, but there's a generally common saying that characters have done something on their own, or they've run off and they've surprised you, or oh man the characters did something I didn't expect. I don't really understand that, because I made up the characters, they do what I tell them to.

What I do understand is that the better I get to know them the more they do something that I didn't necessarily plot out ahead of time, and that's what people mean, so I do understand that experience. But what they never do is they never do something that is completely out of line with the story I'm telling, they never surprise me in that way, so they always stay within certain bounds.

So it's just that I get to know the characters really well, and they grow and change and my understanding of them grows and changes and I get very familiar with them. So they change and they do things that I can now predict that maybe i didn't think about ahead of time.

Will Wight

I'm going to talk about Hunter Hunter for a second.  So, some people believe that a hard magic system is inherently better, and a magic system that doesn't have, that is soft, so it doesn't have clear cut rules is inherently worse, and that's just not true.  There are a lot of series with great soft magic systems.  But Hunter Hunter in my opinion has such an elaborate set of rules, that it works best as a hard magic system.  So, when it's following it's own rules, because you have such a cool set of rules, and there are so many awesome things that are possible within it, that while you are working within those constraints, it's the most interesting.  Then when you're not, I'm like, but you had this awesome set of rules.  Use those.  But I also really like

(Interruption for hat change.  What did Will really like?  We may never know.)

Questioner

So someone has suggested that I talk about something that I've been sort of into recently that kind of cool. I have just a few weeks ago found the choose your own adventure subreddit. r/makeyourchoice, I think is the subreddit. That led me on this whole rabbit whole down to a bunch of choose your own adventure games.

Will Wight

So what they are, they're basically graphics or little games where people offer hypothetical prizes that you can buy with points. So, for instance you have a point budget and certain powers are more expensive than others and then make yourself like a little build and then think about how you would play. So, its fun to do. And what its helped me do, is help me think about what I like in terms of character building. Because one of the things that I appreciate is when characters are making a build. Characters are themed, characters are focused in some way and it helps me feel like one character can't do everything. One character is good at something. So, it really is what traditional classes do. Where its like, you know a rogue is gonna be a sneaky, stabby kind of guy that does traps and the fighter is not gonna be that guy. I've really enjoyed that and its made me think about how I am going to work in my next magic system because I would like there to be some character building, designing element to it. And the choose your own adventure thing has given me sort of a model of what I like about that kind of system, so I've really enjoyed that.

And then I made one particular build that revolved around me making clones and I don't remember which choose your own adventure this was. But, you could make a permanent clone once per day or you could make temporary clones and I shared this with a friend of mine. So, if you make a permanent clone, the cooldown of the clone ability is shared between your clones. I don't remember where I got this. So, I had heard, I had read about this ability on reddit. I don't know that I even ever found the actual choose your own adventure. I think it was just an ability that people described to me and I thought it was cool. It captured my imagination it was like a Naruto clone thing, like I mentioned earlier.  And this clone ability, I was telling my friend about it, about how that would be a neat power to have and a friend of mine was just constantly asking me about the logistics of clones and how would I stop the clones from taking over and how would I deal with all these clones and how would I house the clones and I'm like I don't have to do this, they are independent entities, they can house themselves. And I couldn't stop him talking about the clones. So it ended up just being the clone wars.

Questioner

How often do you read your own books?

Will Wight

However often I release books, so about twice a year I read my own books. Because I read the previous books in order to brush up on the next one, because is still of course I still have all my notes and all that and I generally remember what I put in my last book anyway. But you know it's never the same like there's a lot of times where - So shortly after Unsouled came out, I couldn't remember what Lindon's Dads name was because I was remembering all the names that I had potentially come up with. So I remembered it as one of a list of possibilities but I couldn't remember which one I settled on. - So that happens a lot. I remember what I planned to do as much as I remember what I actually did. So reading the books helps me refresh on that.

Questioner

Can an iteration be moved between sectors? And does it affect new iterations in the sector if it can?

Will Wight

An iteration can be moved between sectors. It is kind of a fluid designation as to which sector an iteration is in. It does cause some problems when it is moved so, it is difficult to do and it doesn't happen alot. It's a Judge level operation for that to happen.

Questioner

Would a bonded partner be able to rebond if one them died?

Will Wight

Yes.

Questioner

Aside from Sha Miara, who was the youngest when they advanced to monarch? Who was the oldest?

Will Wight

So among the current monarchs, I think...Emriss was the oldest when she advanced to monarch because she's a tree, so they advance slowly.I'm not sure is the youngest. Someone has asked this before...It could be the person who asked this now, I don't know, it's a mystery. I didn't remember then and I don't remember now. I don't know if I ever actually came up with an answer to that.

Questioner

Can you tell us more about the training or techniques of some of the paths the books don't focus on? Specifically Amberwell or Chainkeeper?

Will Wight

Well, the Chainkeeper Path is mostly focused on one particular technique. 

(Interlude for Will to get blown up and drown) 

So, Path of the Chainkeeper is mostly focused on one technique.  So it is one of those single technique Paths.  It's not literally single technique, there are a few, but it's focused mainly on the Strings of Shadow technique that Mercy uses because it is so versatile.  It's also not a hugely combat focused Path, though of course they are all somewhat combat focused, but it is very versatile and it is focused on survival and just sort of everyday use.  You kind of Spiderman around, and lots of fun things you can do with that Path.

(More discussion of Will's drowning habits-spoiler-it involves inhaling water)

All right.  Amberwell.  The Amberwell path is... I don't know that I can really give a whole lot more detail than was in the books, even though the books were vague, because I don't have the specific techniques or anything on the Path memorized.  But it was an aggressive Path that was focused on using, on weaponizing dreams.  So it's sorta a water/venom/dream Path, so it's really complex to cycle, and the results are usually, they're all at least semi-mental attacks; you can sort of erode people's awareness, give them nightmares, that kind of thing.  But it is a very niche, very aggressive Path; a lot of other dream paths are flexible, and you can do things like make dream tablets and that sort of thing, but this one is like, nope, it's just about burning people's minds away.  That is the Amberwell Path.

Questioner

Would you ever write a novel of someone who was transported to a pioneer world by the Abidan?

Will Wight

Actually, yes.  That was something I came really close to writing already.  It was something that I wanted to write kind of as a break book, in between Cradle.  Of course, I had Elder Empire, which was not so much of a break, as an intensification of the action.  The opposite of a break, whatever that is.  A seam?  I don't know.  That's the opposite of a break.  But I really wanted to do that, because I talked with some LitRPG authors, and they mentioned that I had brought up the idea of a Minecraft/Terraria LitRPG.  And I was like, I know there are a million of those.  And they were like, I don't know that there are.  And so I looked it up, and there are quite a few of those in Japanese, but there aren't too many in English, or at least there weren't a year or two ago, when I had this discussion.

So I said wow, that I had already outlined a book that involved a group of people on a pioneer world, the Abidan, where they're just kind of building a world.  Literally just starting from scratch, figuring out the magic system, and all that stuff.  I also had a story that I not only outlined, but also wrote a few chapters of, years and years ago, before House of Blades, in which a modern Earth-like but not technically Earth world had magic all of a sudden introduced,  and so it was like this magic apocalypse thing and it was slowly becoming more magical and the whole world was breaking down.  Which at the time was a new concept and is not nearly a new concept anymore because a lot of people did it, and they did a great job. So I missed the boat on that one, but that was fun to write.  I actually reread the first few chapters of that and I was like, that's pretty good.  Pretty good, young Will.  Not too bad.  So that was a... I kind of combined some aspects of that into this pioneer world developing idea.

Questioner

If Cradle is the "top source" of Abidan recruits, does it give the most recruits, the best recruits, or both?

Will Wight

So, Cradle is not the top source of Abidan recruits.  Cradle is the fir.. well, I guess it is technically.  So, it's the one where it's the easiest to ascend.  Right?  So it's the one where the magic system most easily translates to ascending, because if you continue to follow the magic system, you eventually ascend.  Not every magic system has ascension built into it.  This one does.  So that is why Cradle is such a great source of Abidan recruits.

What I meant to say a minute ago is that it is not the source of the best recruits.  So, people have asked "Are Cradle workers the strongest?"  No they are not.  There are iterations with a higher power level than Cradle.

Questioner

Visualization help: Lindon lifting Yerin like a doll, or Yerin lifting Lindon like a doll? Which would look more awkward?

Will Wight

I told you I was getting rid of doll characters, so no one is lifting anyone like a doll. So anyways, here is Risk of Rain 2.

Will Wight

Which character in Cradle has been the most difficult to write?

Questioner

Most difficult.  Hmm. (RoR2 discussion.  Will is optimistic that he can repeat his previous actions which lead to death, except this time there will be no death.)  Which character in Cradle is the most difficult to write?  I don't know.  That's a hard question to answer.  I guess Yerin, because she's in so much of the books, and her dialogue requires extra attention, and she also has an emotional journey that parallels Lindon's, so there fore it's hard to keep writing her, and that's not really... I don't know that's the spirit of the question.  So, she's not that hard, because I know the character well and I've been writing her for a long time.  I don't know. 

I don't who is the most difficult; I know the most difficult thing for me to write, and that is anything where the characters are expressing genuine emotion.  Any genuine scenes where the characters are emotionally interacting and they are really having these heart to heart moments.  It's very difficult because it requires a lot more thought and focus and design and knowledge of the characters.  It's got to come across as organic and things the characters would actually say, and you are also trying to evoke some kind of emotion in the reader.  Now, it's not always the emotion that the character is experiencing.  You are not always truing to get the reader to feel sad if the character is feeling sad.  But you are always trying to make it feel like the characters genuinely do feel sad which is difficult.  So that is the hardest thing to write.

Questioner

Hypothetically, if Orthos did not go to Sacred Valley and instead went with Lindon, would he be able to fight along side Lindon in the tournament? Or would he be considered a separate contender?

Will Wight

No. He is over the age requirement. So, there are some people who could take their contracted beasts. Lindon and Orthos would not be one of them. Orthos would be considered a separate competitor and he would be considered too old.

Questioner

How do you wind down/reset after an intense period of writing?

Will Wight

Slowly, Sam says, yes, My assistant gnome has spoken. Slowly is the correct answer. I uh, boy.... So what I like to do, the way I like to write, is I like to lock myself kind of... in a room, or a ship, for a week or two at a time. Then I just spend all my time writing, it's just what I do sort of from beginning to end. That has worked well so when I am done with that, it's typically been a long time so at the end of every day I’m really tired and I typically will play my Switch for an hour or whatever then go to sleep. Then I, when I’m done with that, I don’t know... when I am done with that, I crash. So I get home after that and I just kind of hole up and do nothing for a while I guess is the answer. I...uh, I just sort of crash, so I go home and I just sort of veg out for a couple of days. When it is really bad I sort of literally do nothing. Sort of just kind of lay on my bed and look at my computer forever and then hours pass and I'm like... "I don't know what I just did... maybe nothing...who knows? I have no memory from that period".

Occasionally I wake up and there's a bloody corpse of a bear and I’m in the woods and my clothes have been shredded and there is a lot of hair and I have dreams of the full moon but I don't....you know, I don't think that's weird or anything.

Questioner

Can all madra be converted to hunger madra?

Will Wight

No.

Questioner

Were you originally planning on writing a series with romance in it? How do you feel about the community's response to the romance?

Will Wight

Was I originally planning on writing a series with romance in it?  You know, when I started Traveler's Gate, I was like, "Haha! I'm going to do  series with no romance."  Because all series have romance, and it frankly doesn't add anything to most series.  Well, not to most series.  Movies, so I was really comparing it to movies, and individual books or short series or trilogies.  So I was going, ok, in these short series and trilogies, it doesn't add a whole lot.  It's just there because it's supposed to be there, so I was like "Aha! I'm going to buck the trend! I'm going to do one with minimal or no romance."  And then I was very quickly like, "Nah, this doesn't really make any sense."  So the characters just, kind of, interact with one another.  They would be attracted to one another, which is logical.  So that became quickly a policy that I abandoned, although I still am not super comfortable writing romance.

So therefore, in this series, as Cradle went on, I knew that at some point in the series I was going to have to write some romance.  However, as I said in a recent blog post, I didn't expect Cradle to blow up quite the way it has.

(Will is briefly distracted by the threat of things exploding.)

So, I did not expect to get the point where I had to develop these characters to that degree, that it was going to be very important for me to write the romance.  But in fact, as I continued, I was like, "Yup, I'm going to have to develop this into a romance."  But it felt natural for the characters, it didn't feel like... I'm talking about it like I was forced into it because, you know, I was.  But I was forced into it by the natural progression of the story, so it made sense, where the characters would go, it felt right.  And so I knew I would have to stretch myself as a writer and challenge myself to develop character relationships as naturally as I could.  So that is what I am trying to do.

Questioner

Do the other planets or asteroids or space bodies in Cradle's Iterations gather aura?

Will Wight

Yes, they do. The other celestial bodies in Cradle do have the same rules and laws of aura that Cradle does. It won't be as rich or as powerful, but it'll be there.

Questioner

Please confirm Lindon's height. I was not picturing an NBA player. I am confused.

Will Wight

I mean every time I describe Lindon I talk about how giant he is. So I don't know...I mean that is the only descriptor I use for Lindon. He is very tall.