that’s a very good point-I’m Vietnamese myself, my mother and her family immigrated here, and although they were not forced to only speak english, it was easier and less painful to. I knew more Vietnamese as a kid, but as my mother mostly spoke it and couldn’t write it, and by now doesn’t really speak it at all except with her sister and parents-I imagine it would be far far harder to maintain your language and culture if you’re actually forced to give it up on threat of pain. :(. I certainly can relate to this idea of being one step removed from the culture of what people would consider your homeland, as that’s definitely me with Vietnam, and you really portrayed it well. Oh, and congrats on the book completion :D! thats a wonderful achievement and im excited for you!
So it’s confirmed we can have a magpie of an MC ?
Magpie?
Y’know.
liberator of ancient relics and artefacts.
Or “thief” for the uneducated, greedy masses who refuse to share their stuff
Nice! I always play a MC who is an intellectual and a curious sort. Looking forward to this side quest! =)
I could sympathize with cultural dissimiliation. In the Philippines, schools prioritize the use of English language more than our own mother tongue so if you ask some Filipino youth today, they are not familiar with some Filipino terms. I am guilty of this as well, unfortunately. My father has more Filipino vocabulary than me even though he is Chinese. XD
I still think that when language and cultural practices were not passed on and practiced on, they could be dissimiliate quickly, probably less than 200 years is enough.
No, no magpie… 
While some “side quests” can open up depending on your choices with certain NPCs/ROs, none of them include looting and/or collecting relics or artifacts!
Yes, I think this is the case in a plot of places, especially as the world becomes even more globalized and (in some ways) homogenized!
@StarlitOpal, you described my circumstances perfectly! My parents also immigrated here before I was born, but they taught me Vietnamese first and we lived in a largely-Vietnamese community in California, so it was my first language! However, as I grew up and we moved away from that community, they started speaking English more and more often, even at home, since they wanted me to have an easier time assimilating (in preschool I greeted my teachers in Vietnamese and got made fun of, lol). As that happened, I completely forgot Vietnamese, and nowadays all of my younger cousins don’t speak it at all, while I can only somewhat understand it but not speak it. It can be very easy to let go of your “homeland’s” culture in favor of the one you live in here and now! (Which I think can be applied to a lot of young people living in the story’s Autarchy and cultural climate!) Anyway haha, my point is that we’re like peas in a pod!
Thank you so much, that’s very kind of you!! 
Also, the evil ask that @Phoenix_Wolf, @spunkycatninja and others requested has been answered! 
That’s actually almost hilarious, because that’s kinda exactly what happened to my family as well! It was after the war they moved here, I was born and spent the first part of my life knowing Vietnamese, but then we moved to a place where I was one of two kids in my school that was Vietnamese. Literally, two kids, including me. And I have no idea what happened to that other dude, actually, now that I’m thinking about it. He might not have even been there the entire time.
And then it just was easier-we didn’t speak it at home because my dad is white and never spoke it haha, so I just kinda lost what little I had. I used to know so many Vietnamese lullabies and used to be able to understand a lot more but while i can remember a couple lyrics Ba says my accent is very American, which is her nice way of saying I’m mangling the words ;-; I know some phrases and I can understand a bit, and I know I have cousins still in California who can probably speak it more fluently, but I was very much raised American. It’s really why I keep replaying Ket-mc and elvish-Ket because it really hits home for me sometimes how little I know about Vietnamese culture even though in my heart I feel like I really should know more then I do, and elvish for a bit of escapism and wish fulfillment of having stayed connected to my culture, even if I’m a halfie haha.
My own experience has been rather similar to you and @StarlitOpal.
I actually grew up speaking both Spanish and English (my parents only speak Spanish, but my older sister and brother spoke to me almost exclusively in English). It wasn't until after I started school that my Spanish began to atrophy despite the fact that my parents have never spoken anything else to me. It's very odd, but not so odd as my little brother who has never once spoken fluent Spanish in his entire life.At this point, the only one of my siblings who is still fluent in Spanish is our sister, probably because she was the oldest and had to perform as a translator for our parents at a young age. By contrast, my brothers and I probably won’t be skilled enough to pass on our mother tongue to any of our children (should any of us choose to have any), and any Spanish we do know is heavily accented probably not conjugated correctly.
That said, I can actually read Spanish without issue, and can write it far better than I can speak it, and I have to wonder if it’s not because I actually have the time and critical eye to correct myself, whereas my critical ear seems to have gone deaf long ago.
But hey, it’s ok, the universe just had to nerf me, I guess. If I was able to make people cry in two languages I would’ve been too OP. 
E V I L
also, this will make amazing fanfic fodder, tysm for this angsty gift
Trouble would explosively argue with the MC about it for so long that everyone would probably just die lmao
I made the mistake of reading this at work. Now I’m trying to hide my giggles behind my laptop screen and hoping my colleagues don’t notice… 
In the mere skip of a stone this thread travels from recasting Mean Girls to cultural assimilation…
Someplace magical.
The sexiest thing I have come across this evening hour is that Blade is Chase when he musses his hair. I now greatly desire that Blade shall frequently (and randomly) storm off behind any natural or freestanding structure only to emerge from the other side with straw in his hair, sauntering over to the group whilst using his “Chase” voice, thereby continuing to deepen all obsessions with the eggplant and the sword…
Also, I am Lavinet when humanity does anything.
{sets aside gold ducats for the momentous occasion}
Someplace dark.
s P O i L E r S
Blessed are those who receive the gift of @rose-court angstfic
my god…
MC: You ever notice how Blade and Chase are never in the same room?
Trouble [nervously adjusts his blond wig]: Not at all…
MC: Hey Caine?
Caine: [hurriedly draws on their freckles] Yes?
omg how deep does this rabbit hole go???
Blade’s real hair color isn’t even black. He just keeps sticking his head in the coal bin.
Helps to fuel the pain…
Red: Blade hates me so much.
MC: I wonder why?
Red [adjusting his red wig]: to throw you all off the scent…
MC: What was that?
Red: (cough) Nothing. Let’s go have fun, yeah?
Caine is Blade on his knees.
Nothing was too big or too small to recruit the MC.
The fact that he can die was a little bit trickier…
He fakes his death to make the MC more motivated to kill demons, duh!
So… if all male characters are actually the same person… how does romance work? 
The mc is in some kind of “The Truman Show”