Blaine Hayes

Blaine, a character in the Foreign Affairs book, is a student at Vancross Institute, the First Son/Daughter of Ardona, your country's rival, and one of your love interests. He/She is first seen in Chapter 1.

Appearance

Blaine's gender and looks are determined by the player. If Blaine is male, his outfit consists of a red hoodie under a dark blue jacket jacket with a chain attached to his dark ripped jeans. He also wears a watch on his left wrist. If Blaine is female, she wears a red top with dark ripped jeans. She wears gold hoop earrings, 2 necklaces, and bracelet for jewelry.

Personality

Blaine appears to be a troublemaker, moving to beat of his/her own drum and doing what he/she wants. He/she doesn't care much for public opinion, flipping off the paparazzi as soon as he/she arrives at Vancross Institute. Blaine can be direct and at times, comes off as harsh or blunt. Other times, Blaine is charmingly snide. According to Blaine, he/she believes he/she is good at reading people. However, he/she has a hard time believing he/she could be a positive force in the world. Blaine believes that politicians only care for the perks and powers associated with their positions. Blaine believes it is better to accept that one doesn't have control over how other people think and to move on instead of worry about it.

According to Dionne, Blaine is honorable at least when it comes to paying up on a bet. Blaine is an animal lover. He/she has three dogs and volunteers at an animal shelter whenever he/she has time. Blaine also says he/she likes horses more than people. Although he/she warns you that the safe move is to stay out of the way and let others get in trouble, Blaine tries to act as a mediator for his/her friends, such as when he/she decided to try to diffuse the situation between Peter and Zaira or deescalate Henri and Alexei's squabble at the Soiree of Nations. Despite his/her nonchalant attitude, he/she immediately agrees to whatever plan you devised to improve Dionne's mood during her birthday dinner before you even go into the details.

Chapters

Foreign Affairs

Chapter 1: First Term Jitters
Chapter 2: Political Partying
Chapter 3: Revisionist History
Chapter 4: Champagne Socialites
Chapter 5: Horse Race
Chapter 6: Gesture Politics
Chapter 7: Bipartisan Showdown
Chapter 8: Smoke-Filled Rooms
Chapter 9: Fallout
Chapter 10: Spin Doctoring
Chapter 11: Fishing Expedition
Chapter 12: Bully Pulpit
Chapter 13: Mending Fences
Chapter 14: Whistle Stop
Chapter 15: Witch Hunt
Chapter 16: Swing Vote

Relationships

Richard Hayes

"I'm actually their only hope for the future, unfortunately for them."

—Blaine about his/her parents

It is Blaine's father who is the Prime Minister of Ardona. Even though Blaine is an adult, he/she is expected to give up everything any time his/her father asks. In Chapter 1's premium scene, Blaine explains that he/she knows his/her parents care about their people only as much as it helps them stay in power. While Blaine's father wanted Blaine to attend his alma mater, it was Blaine's mother who guilt-tripped him/her into attending Vancross. Blaine says his/her mother knows he/she pretends not to be someone he/she is.

You find out that, due to the nature of their relationship, Blaine often makes a point to discuss family matters as little as possible. If you take the dinner diamond option with Blaine in Chapter 13, he/she reveals that his/her parents are embarrassed by him/her.

Isabella Hayes

When you and Blaine compare mothers, you discover that Blaine's mother is a lot like yours. She has high expectations for Blaine and uses Blaine's bodyguard, Jacob, to report to her what Blaine is doing. If you look through Blaine's phone and his/her texts with Isabella, you find out Blaine's life is more micromanaged than your own.

Blaine mentions that she always hated when Blaine brought stray animals into the Residence. She forbade it, which cause Blaine to do it more often.

Your Character

Since you haven't seen a recent picture of Blaine Hayes since he/she was a child with a dorky haircut and braces, his/her appearance takes you by surprise on the day you arrive at Vancross. Rutherland and Ardona's feud dates back to the 18th century, but Blaine tells you he/she doesn't buy into the rivalry and is surprised that you do. Dionne notices the sparks flying between you two, but it's your choice whether or not to pursue Blaine romantically.

At the end of Chapter 2, Professor Masako assigns Blaine as your partner for your World History group project. When you two are working on the project, you have the option to look through each other's phones. If you do, you find out he/she was forced to volunteer at an animal shelter due to punching a photographer, but eventually grew to like it and kept going back. When you scroll through his/her photos, you find a picture of his/her ex, who ended their relationship over a year ago due to the stress of being in the limelight.

You walk in on Blaine sweet talking his/her horse before the charity polo match. He/she offers to help you select a different horse for the game. He/she is distant for a while after getting into trouble with Dean Lundqvist. When you confront Blaine after class, he/she asks if you're planning on going on the trip he/she organized, reassuring you that the press wouldn't be able to make any connections between you and him/her if you show up to the hospital publicity stunt. Even though you tell him/her you aren't supposed to be seen with him/her, he is understanding and respects your decision. Blaine returns the favor in the midst of your sex scandal, when he/she helps with damage control at the animal shelter. If Blaine is your love interest, you have the chance to sneak out to see him/her on two occasions in Chapters 9 and 10. If you have enough relationship points with Blaine, he/she will defend you against your classmates who snicker at you due to your scandal.

When you're distant after the attack, he/she is worried and checks up on you by bringing you dinner one night. Blaine offers to keep you company, admitting that it would physically hurt not being by your side for the night. You learn more about his/her family in this premium scene.

Peter Wallace

Peter is Blaine's suitemate. He/she accompanies Peter to Dionne's birthday dinner as his plus-one. If you make any suggestive comments about the nature of their friendship, Blaine will humor you. However, Peter will be quick to assure you they are just friends. Their countries are allies, so they've hung out at many ceremonies over the years.

Dionne Dorada de Rothschild Serrano

Dionne is Blaine's friend and appears to have known him/her for a while. Dionne knows Blaine usually avoids photo-ops like the plague, so she is surprised when he arranges a trip to the hospital to read to sick children.

Character Customization

Other Looks

Male

Female

Miscellaneous

Trivia

A male version of Blaine is shown on the cover of Foreign Affairs.
The name Blaine is of Gaelic, Irish and Scottish origin and means "Slender, thin" or "Yellow".
The surname Hayes is of Old English, Irish and Scottish origin, which means: "Bushwood", "Underwood", "Enclosure" or "Hedge" (Old English); "Descendant of Aodh" (Irish); "Of La Haye" or "Of the hedge" (Scottish).
- He/She shares the same surname as Selma Hayes from Baby Bump, Book 1 and the Hayes family (Delia, Amelia, MC and Devon) from The Unexpected Heiress.
His/her dad forced him/her to volunteer at an animal shelter after he/she punched a photographer.
You can only get 5 diplomacy stars with Ardona if he/she is your love interest, otherwise you get 4 stars at most.
Blaine knows how to mix drinks. He/she bartended at the Soiree of Nations.
He/she has met celebrity chef Emerald Phan and is practically best friends with her.
Some "poor intern" manages his/her social media.
His/Her ex's gender is determined by Your Character's body type
Blaine spends a lot of time at the polo club, a tidbit he/she reveals during a premium scene if you ask for help selecting a different horse for the charity polo match.
If you take the premium option and sneak out with Blaine in Chapter 10, he/she reveals that it's his/her first time at a drive-in theater.
Blaine's grandmother had a secret family recipe for duck stew. She guarded the recipe so heavily that, whenever she made it, even the family cook wasn't allowed near the kitchen. Unfortunately, this recipe died with her.
When Blaine was younger, he/she was the victim of a failed assassination attempt. A bomb was planted under the Hayes' car while the family attended the opening of a new embassy. The bomb was triggered too early. Blaine had a few cuts from the shrapnel and some hearing loss.
Once, Blaine's dad challenged one of his cabinet members to a duel after they insulted his/her mother's favorite football player. The only reason the duel never took place was because the night before, the striker had "some crazy goal" in stoppage time. His/Her mom laid the matter to rest, content that her point was proven.

Memorable Quotes

Blaine: Our parents want this neat little image of a family that they can control. Screw that. We're people.
Your Character: Exactly! This is my life, and I wanna start living it without my mom's input.
Blaine: I'm glad you're finally seeing things my way.