mapping out characters

[Bluelantern]

Would Pen be offended if her parents gave her some sort of "translator"?

[Alicorn]

Not necessarily, but I don't know what sort of device you have in mind, and Pen will be content to rely on her ingot power once it canonically kicks in.

[DanielH]

I read that at first as though it didn’t have the quotes, and they just hired somebody who was better than average at interpreting what she said to follow her around and help other people. Re-reading it, I’m thinking that Bluelantern probably instead meant some sort of pentagoned thing that would make people able to hear a version of what Pen said with proper grammar (I think you said they didn’t want to try mind magic on Pen like making the grammar readily available to her).

[Alicorn]

They don't want to try mind magic on her while she's a child and they don't have any examples of older or cured or anything ones of her. I can't think of anything external that wouldn't be fairly conspicuous in her yet-Masqueraded home world, and the people she interacts with who know that magic and such exist don't have that hard a time understanding her.

[DanielH]

I think they could probably make her credit bracelet or her Kiss have some sort of interpretation (of Pen) and illusion (to make it look like Pen is saying the right words) magic, but she lived (and expects to return to) an isolated-enough life that most people she interacted with could probbly still understand her even if they didn't know Things¹, and on the other hand they'd notice if she suddenly could grammar.

I can think of a few other fixes² which her parents probably wouldn't see as potentially-bad mind magic, some of which she could start using slowly so it looked like she was just getting better naturally (like Lokibell did with grace), but again it probably doesn't impair her that much in everyday life. I'm certain her problem could be solved acceptably, even if none of my thoughts would work, if more effort was put into it by the characters; I'll accept that it's reasonable for them to have not put in this effort given Pen's actual situation.

I've also wondered: if Pen somehow became an Elcenian dragonish or fell under the influence of a Kystle translation spell³, would that treat her symptoms of poor grammar? Would a Names-brand fairy notice anything wrong, given how they don't exactly use language but escence-of-understanding?

¹ I'm not sure I'll ever be able to think of being in on a masquerade like this without thinking of Cody's lines near the start of Radiance.
² For example, adding a grammar information visual HUD similar to Stella's mind-reading one. This could tell her what order and conjugation to use for words, and could work as well as the pre-composed music (assuming that she doesn't have trouble with music because somebody else wrote lyrics, not because the tune helps her remember the order of the lyrics)
³ Which inspired my speculation in footnote 2

[Alicorn]

A dragonish Pen would still have the problem, although she might be able to work around it in sufficiently cooperative languages with the creative substitution of vocabulary. A Names-brand fairy would notice something wrong but not enough to impede understanding.

[Bluelantern]

I read that at first as though it didn’t have the quotes, and they just hired somebody who was better than average at interpreting what she said to follow her around and help other people. Re-reading it, I’m thinking that Bluelantern probably instead meant some sort of pentagoned thing that would make people able to hear a version of what Pen said with proper grammar (I think you said they didn’t want to try mind magic on Pen like making the grammar readily available to her).

I was thinking in all variations of "translator" actually

now, I am wondering if it would be cute to give a Alt!Pen a translating animal or something.

So, I was re-reading Aurora's story and I was wondering how much she is different from other Bells and how much she is just being paranoid? How much gender influences it? would two male swans twins be that close? or different-gendered ones? (Kiri and Aleko circunstances are special)

[Alicorn]

Bells with twins are noticeably different but I think this is mostly in their internal workings and probably not that visible to people who are not me/Bells. Gender does not influence it very much but Kiri and Aleko are indeed special.

[anthusiasm]

Do all the Bells do the "favorite person" thing or is it just the sibling Bells? If all the Bells do it, who are the married-with-kids' Bells' favorite people?

[Alicorn]

They all do it, but it's pretty low-key when they don't have siblings or significant others. The ones with kids have it toned way down but could produce a ranking if you gave them a Sophie's Choice.