Jul 11, 2025
Author's Commentary #460:
Time to talk about Chapter 460: Still human.
Babylonia has finally made it's proper debut, and that means it's time to do everyone's bios. But first, it's worth mentioning that this chapter now occurs much earlier than original following the revisions.
ニウシャ・ヴェイシ博士 (Dr. Niusha Veishi) is how Niusha's name would be spelled in Japanese. د. نيوشا فيشي (Dr. Niusha Veishi) is how it would be spelled in Arabic.
Her birthday is January 1st, which is New Year's Day.
Her favorite piece is the bishop.
Niusha was one of the first characters I finalized for the Babylonian team. She's very introverted and often considered the "blank slate" of all the members due to her just not knowing who to follow or what to stand her ground on. She hails from Bagdad, and serves as the DSPCM there.
ヴェラ・ベイロン博士 (Dr. Vera Babylon) is how Vera's name would be spelled i Japanese. الدكتورة فيرا بابل (Dr. Vera Babylon) is how it would be spelled in Arabic.
Her birthday is April 21st. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
Vera is easily one of the characters that has undergone the most revisions. In fact, her name was actually Darina for the longest time before I decided to change it to Vera. Since I decided to cut the chapter that delves more into her true nature, I'll reveal here that Vera is a mega racist and antisemite. Speaking of said chapter, like all the other cut chapters, it'll likely make it's way back into the story as part of a side story recapping 6B. I'm not sure how long it will take until that'll happen, which is why I decided to reveal Vera's true nature here as it was technically revealed in a chapter that was uploaded for a bit.
イブティッサム・タイフル (Ibtissam Tayfur) is how Ibtissam's name would be spelled in katakana. ابتسام طيفور (Ibtissam Tayfur) is how it would be spelled in Arabic.
Her birthday is April 27th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
Originally, Ibtissam was given the name, Dr. Yanmin Van Aitzema when I decided to use her design. However, I decided to instead create a whole new character for Yanmin and make Ibtissam more unique. Said character actually appeared in the chapters leading up to 6B, but since those chapters were cut, so too was Yanmin's appearance. Though she does still cameo with the others in a later chapter without being name dropped. As for Ibtissam, she's an archeologist and an Arab Christian originally hailing from Nazareth. She's also very anti-government, but not necessarily an anarchist, just someone that really hates people of authority and politicians.
ロシャナク・ファルゼナ (Roshanak Farzenah) is how Roshanak's name would be spelled in katakana. روشناك فرزينه (Roshanak Farzenah) is how it would be spelled in Arabic.
Her birthday is December 30th. I chose this date at random, so there's no greater significance behind why this date is her birthday.
Her favorite piece is the queen.
Originally, I planned to make a Persian team which would have featured Roshanak. However, I ultimately changed my plans and instead ported Roshanak over to the Babylonian team. Speaking of Persia, even though Mongolia's conquered it, I will confirm Qojin is actually a Persian native, and serves as the DSPCM of a Persian city now under Mongol control. That won't really be touched on in the main story, but if I do side stories unlike the ones in the main series, her story will likely be covered there. On that note, it is worth mentioning some parts of Persia/Iran that were part of Babylonia historically are now part of the Neo-Babylonian Empire here in this story.
タスリマ・ドゥーミット (Taslima Doumit) is how Taslima's name would be spelled in katakana. تسليمة دوميت (Taslima Doumit) is how it would be spelled in Arabic.
(If I made any mistakes with the translations, feel free to correct me).
Her birthday is January 21st, which was the day the first International Fetish Day was held on.
Her favorite piece is the pawn.
Taslima is a last-minute edition to the team, who only came about by chance as thanks to me fiddling around in Paint, I decided that her design would be perfect and slotted her into the Babylonian team. Her name was actually on the table for a character for a while though.
With the bios done, it's time to talk more about the chapter itself. First off, this one was actually a last-minute edition, but one I felt was needed. Originally, I planned to introduce the Babylonians proper in an upcoming chapter, but felt more buildup was needed, mainly in Vera's case. Note that this was before I ultimately decided to cut said chapter as part of my revisions. The other reason I'm glad I wrote this chapter was because of Iori. While Iori is a psychopath that's murdered many for fun, she does have some morals, which will end up ultimately contrasting her with some of the other characters similar to her in the series. And while her speech on her morals is rather noble, her horniness will ultimately be what stands out about this chapter, though I will confirm there actually is a legitimate reason why she's like that, which will be further explained later in the series.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
