Nameplates took a fixed Friz Quadrata path whatever `NAMEPLATE_FONT` held, so an addon or a localized GlobalStrings could not restyle them.
1.12.1's plate constructor reads the global for each FontString it builds: the name at `0x7cb3f9` and the level at `0x7cb49b`. The read is `lua_gettable` on the globals, so `__index` runs (`0x704373`). A number reads as its text; anything else, or a missing global, gives "". `SetFont` refuses "" (`0x44d05c`) and leaves the string with no font.
Plates and chat bubbles now read the global through one lookup, when each is built. The read happens before the UI model is borrowed: an addon's `_G` `__index` that touched the model panicked the bubble's read.
Tests: a plate built after the global is set takes it, an older plate keeps its own font, the non-string cases, and an `__index` that calls `CreateFrame`.
Fixes#921🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Sam Sung
baf729cee6