I definitely agree with the majority of what's been said here. I think being able to distinguish IC and OOC knowledge/emotions gets better with practice, though it can still be hard at times, especially with the emotions. So for me, whenever those lines start to get a little blurred, it usually helps me to just take a step back, breathe, and try to think logically about whether my charrie would actually know/feel something about whatever it is. And sometimes it can also help to just distract myself with something else for a little bit to clear my head, and then I'm able to think more clearly about something. Though I think that's a little more for emotions, because charrie emotions can be overwhelming sometimes

Also communication like Lemon pointed out. That's also definitely important and is a big help in clearing up any confusion or thoughts about anything.

And I think Anna brought up a really good point about IC vs. OOC knowledge for classes. I know some professors will still give points for posts where a charrie is just listening and taking notes, but for me, there's only so many times I can post that sort of thing before I feel it's too repetitive and I bore myself And I think this can affect older years too, not just the younger ones, because just because a charrie's a sixth/seventh year doesn't mean they'd know everything in every subject. They'll know more than they did in their first or second year, of course, but if they knew everything, they wouldn't have to be in school still. And of course it probably depends on the charrie too, since one that reads about a lot of stuff (or even if they just read about a lot in one particular subject or study REALLY hard or something else) then they likely would be able to answer most/all questions in class(es). But I think there's always got to be some sort of balance between IC/OOC knowledge for classes, and that balance varies based on the charrie's year/background/interest/personality/etc, though it can be tough to find/maintain that balance at times. For me it is, at least.

I'm not sure that paragraph made as much sense as it did in my head But basically yeah, IC vs. OOC stuff can be easy to distinguish sometimes and other times a little bit harder, especially when it's emotions and stuff for classes, but I think taking a little bit of time to think about it and communicate with other RPers can help clear up most things