What If Choices' Race-customizable LIs Had Surnames Reflective Of Their Ethnicity?: An Experiment Just For Fun (Part 3/3)
Info in Part 1
Part 2
THE PRINCESS SWAP
Derya
This is a special case and not only because Clarke doesn't have a canon surname: the top row of face options are described in the asset files as "Middle Eastern" and the bottom row are described as "Caucasian". Caucasian is used in the U.S. interchangeably with "white" even though the Caucasus region is in east Europe/west Asia and can be interpreted to encompass parts of Turkey.
Clarke's family members (including parents of both face options) all have Turkish names and if I’m remembering correctly, it’s heavily implied in the text and art that their country is based on Turkey. Which makes the name Clarke really confounding. I wanted to replace it with a Turkish name but I couldn’t find anything that sounded remotely similar. So I chose the unisex name Derya because I like how it sounds!!!!!
Devin Rhee
These face options are described in the asset files as “Asian”. The masc face option’s haircut leaves me no choice but to headcanon him (and by extension the fem face option) as Korean. What the extremely common Korean surname Rhee lacks in being spelled similar to Wright, it makes up for in sounding kinda like Wright. If you were hearing it spoken from another room. Lmao
QUEEN B
Ian Wang / Ina Wang
These face options are described in the asset files as “Asian”. As discussed in Part 1, there are not a lot of sound matches in Asian languages or Spanish for King(sley). I did read a theory online that this LI’s name comes from the fact that they’re the counterpart to the MC who is the titular queen of the series, so I went with the thematic route and chose the surname Wang, which means “king” in Chinese and Korean. The fem face option reminds me of several Korean women I know so I headcanon these face options as Korean, although Wang is a rare surname in Korea whereas it is one of the most common (if not thee most common?) surnames in China. So I guess they could also be Chinese?
Ian Reyes / Ina Reyes
These face options are described in the asset files as “Hispanic”. Same as above, not too many Spanish sound matches, king/queen themes and motifs, etc., so I chose the Spanish surname Reyes which means “kings”.
ROOMMATES WITH BENEFITS
Drew Yáñez
This one was so hard lmao. These face options are described in the asset files as "Hispanic" and there were not a lot of Spanish-language surnames that are a sound match for Young.
Drew Yadao
Also a hard one! These face options are described in the asset files as "Asian" which is really broad, and they don't look "typically" East Asian to me or like any East Asian person I know. The masc one reminds me of someone I know who's Filipino so I'm going with that for my headcanon. Again not a lot of sound matches for Young just like in general, and I decided on the Ilocano surname Yadao because it was one of the only Filipino surnames I could find that started with a Y.
SHIP OF DREAMS
Theodore Kassavetis / Theodora Kassavetis
These face options are described in the asset files as "Mediterranean", although the wiki does note that there's a scene where they say they're Greek. So I initially decided on the Greek surname Karakostas since it kept the "K-AR-T" sound pattern from Carter but then I changed my mind and gave them the surname Kassavetis because I like John Cassavetes the Greek-American director.
SURRENDER
Reagan Tong
These face options are described in the asset files as "Asian". The "th" sound in Thorne that's found in very few other languages like come on now don't piss me off. These face options honestly give Vietnamese to me but I couldn't find any Vietnamese surnames that matched Thorne and the Cantonese surname Tong sounded closer in my opinion.
UNBRIDLED
Ryder Villanueva
The face option on the left is described in the asset files as "Hispanic", and the one on the right is described as "Filipino". A unique situation here as many people in the Philippines have Spanish-language surnames and some speak Spanish due to Spain's historical colonization of the Philippines, meaning "Hispanic" can sometimes apply to Filipinos. We're touching on a complicated issue of using "Hispanic" as an ethnic descriptor but this post is not the place to discuss that. Sooooo since Spanish does not traditionally use the letter W (?) there aren't any Spanish-language surnames starting with W, and the only surname from a Filipino language starting with W that I cound find was Wenceslao which I didn't think was a good match for Wilson. So we're going with the Spanish Villanueva which has the initial "il" sound . Also means "new house" which I think is thematically appropriate for this book? Idk I don't have VIP so I can't play it yet and I just read the summary.
It contains spoilers but if you know about the revelation about the two MCs go ahead.
In the last chapter it was revealed that Daisy is indeed a King's love child from a fling, that Rose and Daisy are half sisters. But TPS is tagged as Twins, I believe they're twins.
Here's my theory,
What if Daisy and Rose are really twins?
What if the Queen(Rose's mother) lied to the King about her possiblity to bear a child? ..Or maybe she was pregnant but miscarried?
What if the Queen went looking for Anna(Daisy's mom) and made a deal with her? That she will keep her secret but in exchange for she will take one of her twins? MAYBE Anna was scared that if the King found out about the twins he would take both of them.
What if the Queen took Rose with her and raised her as her own?
What if the King discovered about the Queen's lies and exiled her by pretending she's dead? Because it would be scandalous for Monterre and King doesn't want Rose to find out about the Queen's lies?
What if the reason why the King became distant from Rose after the Queen died because he thought that Rose was not his child? I mean from what the king said in the diamond scene, he said that him and Rose are nothing alike, so it's not hard to convince him that Rose isn't his child.
What if Rose take after Anna who is a free spirit american and lives life to the fullest? Daisy take after King who is a no-nonsense nerd.
What if Cecil excluding Rose from politics because he was aware of the Queen's lies and believed Rose was not the King's child. Have you noticed how Cecil disrespecting Rose and the King just allows it.
What if the reason why Cecil became nosy when he overheard Daisy video calling Anna, because he suspected she was talking to the exiled Queen and they were plotting against the King?
What if the Queen will return and becomes the Big Bad?
I am not saying Cecil isn't bad news, maybe he wanted to overthrow the King that's why he is pissed that Rose a.k.a Daisy is taking sudden interest in politics.
There's one more I am sus about, Aveline. I don't know what is it about her that makes me distrust her. Maybe Aveline is working for the Queen as mole? I noticed she was missing from Clarke's Welcome Ball and Hunt.
you know pixelberry is capitalismTM when you have to wait SIX DAYS AND TWENTY HOURS (6D 20h) FOR PRINCESS SWAP FINALE RELEASE BC YOU ARE NOT PAYING THEM A PREMIUM CHOICES.
I swear I just got the dress because I wanted to see Clarke's reaction... come on, honey, it's OK, you may say the dress is awful, no one will be mad at you!! 🤣🤣🤣