Hi, guys. 

After the most recent update of this story, it has come to my attention that there were quite a few concerns and complaints about a few of the things that I have written. I could have simply addressed it in the comments but it felt rather half-assed to do so when I believe that the topic at hand really does deserve to be addressed properly. I'm mostly just hear to clear up some things and point out some changes that I've made and why. 

The first concern that I would like to address is that I'm using the 'n' word even though I'm not black. I'm at fault for not stating this beforehand but I am, in fact, very black. If this was a concern of yours, I do apologize for not stating so before posting the chapter update. 

The next concern that I'd like to address is that a few of you seem to believe that my portrayal of this black character is odd for a couple of different reasons, one of which happens to be that his "speech pattern" seemed odd. I cannot say that I understand this concern as the character's speech doesn't differ much than Touya's own save for the use of African American Vernacular English (Ebonics). This character is not a native of Japan and has lived in Brooklyn for a majority of his life, so it goes without saying that his speech would differ from the Japanese characters of this story. Booker is not at all overly stereotypical like most people tend to write black characters and his use of AAVE is incredibly miniscule. 

Another reason seemed to be because his name was Jamal. It was brought to my attention that one of you found this name to be incredibly stereotypical and it made you uncomfortable. While I understand the sentiment, I don't at all consider Jamal to be a stereotypical name. I've actually named Booker after my fiancé to avoid the trouble of having to sort through a bunch of different names just to find one that's "suitable" and since Booker was inspired by my fiancé, it seemed rather fitting. I did not simply just pull the name out of the air and slap it onto this character just because he is black and the assumption that I would is, frankly, insulting. 

In response to these two concerns, I'd personally like to say that I don't believe in watering down black characters and conforming them to be like every other character in the story. I believe that all kinds of black people should be represented in literature, including the ones that most people consider "ghetto" or the ones that have names that are "too black". Even though Booker doesn't fall into most stereotypes (I say most because he does use AAVE and he does, in fact, say the 'n' word) I feel like the stigma against those people who DO fit the stereotypes is insulting to the ones that do. ALL black people deserve representation. Stripping them of their culture in literature just feels wrong to me. 

Booker speaks the same way that my brothers back home do. I don't think that should be seen as offensive. Booker's a black kid in a foreign country just trying to live his life. 

Be that as it may, I did end up changed Booker's name from Jamal to Justin. Just because I'm not offended by it as a black person does not mean that others won't be and while I don't understand why this name is considered offensive, I refuse to tell other people how they can and cannot feel. Your feelings are valid. 

I was offended that being told that I basically portrayed a black person "incorrectly" because it felt like my experience as a black person was being invalidated. It felt like I was being told that being black that way was the 'wrong way' to be black. It feels weird in my skin for people to insinuate something like that. 

While I have changed his name, I will not be changing the way that he speaks. I don't think that way that I speak is an "incorrect" or an exaggerative portrayal of black people. I don't believe that Booker should have to feel that way either. 

The point of this is not at all to glorify some of those horrible stereotypes but that all black people---ghetto, prissy, proper, nerdy or whatever else they may be---are valid and that they all deserve representation in media. 

Obviously my initial intention was not to offend anyone but I was also offended as well so I felt the need to clear the air before going forward, as Booker will be a relevant part of the story. 

I want to thank you all so much for taking the time out to read this and I hope that we're all at a better understanding with one another. I'm incredibly appreciative of ALL of you and the last thing that I want is for any of us to have sour feelings or misconceptions about one another due to miscommunication. 

Thank you. 🖤