Trivia / Wizarding School Mysteries

• Line to God: Cope is very active on his Tumblr account, Tyrantis Terror.
• What Could Have Been: Margot d'Francane was originally Joan d'Francane in order to make her allusions to Joan of Arc more explicit. Then Cope realized that the first initial made it sound too much like J.K. Rowling's name. The name of Joan was eventually given to minor character Joan Tatou, who also happens to be the prototype for her rival Gretchen, making their grudge something of an in-joke for Cope.
  • Helseng was originally named Inga.
  • Charlotte was to be the Hanged Man in the Tarot Motifs, with minor character Aldonza Dulcinea as the Star. Instead, Cope switched gears and made Aldonza a Hero of Another Story.
• Write What You Know: Oomlowt was based on a character Cope made for a DnD campaign, though the original was a Kobold linguist, which explains the logic behind the teacher's name.
  • The climax of the first book, with James removing his deadname from existence, and by extension, his old identity from all memory, was based off of a short story prompt Cope read on Tumblr once. He integrated elements of it in order to make James' Trans Tribulations integral to the plot.
  • The college town of Calempen is based on and named after Kalamazoo, a real-life town that Cope knew while attending Western Michigan University.
  • Ivan's anxiety regarding his sillylusions followed by their positive reception was based on Cope's own insecurities regarding his work, only for his teachers to praise him.
  • The prank Godfrey and Columbina pull on the dean with James is almost identical to what Cope and his friends did to their RA, who did take it in good humor.
• Write Who You Know: Cope based a lot of James' Trans Tribulations - related trauma off of the things his friends used to tell him about their own lives, particularly how it came up almost at random in a rather casual manner.
  • He based Oomlowt on a lot of teachers he had growing up that he holds in high regard.
  • Similar to Oomlowt, Geoffrey Travers is based on an older kid Cope knew in college who was extremely helpful.