Chasejxyz
Inkling
This isn't about a project of mine but discussing this type of magic in general. The thing that I don't really get (and what probably turns me off from using it in general) is what determines the true name of an individual? It's usually plot-relevant because someone is stuck in a spell/magical contract that utilized their true name, but they do something to change it, usually falling in love, and their name changes and they're free now.
As someone who's transgender, I've used multiple names throughout my life, both in a day-to-day/"common law" sense and a legal sense. It takes quite awhile to change all your documents, so there's a period of time where you can exist as both legal names (some states forbid ever changing your birth certificate, so you will always exist as your "old self" forever, in some situations). So would a trans character's true name change when they come out to the world? When they come out to themselves? When they start presenting as the other gender? When they start passing? Why would you be given (by the powers that be) a true name for gender A when you are truly gender B?
It also doesn't really make much sense to me due to the Buddhist concept of "no-self," which is that there is no fixed "you." It's sort of like the ship of Theseus, the first part you switch makes it a different boat from the original, plus as you use the boat it wears down, accumulates barnacles, different people work on it...every moment the boat is slightly different than the one before, as is any individual. Even "falling in love" is a gradual process, at what point is someone's true name changed? Is it a sudden switch or slower evolution? Is a juvenile high school love just as powerful as your "one true soulmate"? Are aromantics just screwed?
As someone who's transgender, I've used multiple names throughout my life, both in a day-to-day/"common law" sense and a legal sense. It takes quite awhile to change all your documents, so there's a period of time where you can exist as both legal names (some states forbid ever changing your birth certificate, so you will always exist as your "old self" forever, in some situations). So would a trans character's true name change when they come out to the world? When they come out to themselves? When they start presenting as the other gender? When they start passing? Why would you be given (by the powers that be) a true name for gender A when you are truly gender B?
It also doesn't really make much sense to me due to the Buddhist concept of "no-self," which is that there is no fixed "you." It's sort of like the ship of Theseus, the first part you switch makes it a different boat from the original, plus as you use the boat it wears down, accumulates barnacles, different people work on it...every moment the boat is slightly different than the one before, as is any individual. Even "falling in love" is a gradual process, at what point is someone's true name changed? Is it a sudden switch or slower evolution? Is a juvenile high school love just as powerful as your "one true soulmate"? Are aromantics just screwed?