#bc the author read about asl letter-based name signs and tried to figure out how that would work with a syllabary themself

[saja-star]

ok I am not deaf and it is not my place to tell ppl how to write d/Deaf characters but I just need y'all to understand some logistics here.

you need at least a little light and line of sight to sign. you can't sign with someone whose back is to you. you can't sign in pitch blackness. I know y'all know this but just stop to think about the logic of it when you're setting the scene please I'm begging you

fingerspelling is really fucking hard actually. yes most classes will start you with fingerspelling first, but the ability to read full-speed fingerspelling takes years. the chances that you will meet someone who knows zero other signs but is totally fluent in fingerspelling are virtually nil. (unless you're writing a story set roughly 1880-1950 in the US, when the Rochester method was required by certain schools.) the chances of someone meeting a deaf person, deciding to learn the manual alphabet, and fingerspelling whole conversations the next day are zip. sign languages are languages. they take a long time to learn like any language, and fingerspelling is not a cheat code for that. if you need characters who don't sign to communicate, have them write or type in a notes app. (yes it's slow, but fingerspelling isn't fast either.)