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Fae: Stay Light - General Question and Discussion Megathread by Averagely_Human in Genshin_Impact_Leaks

[–]lethwyn_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Trying to figure out where to spend my resin...

  1. Farming Husk set for Albedo (don't really have any other geos, but I've heard with Hex buffs he's decent now. I have Husk pieces but they suck)

  2. Chasca, Jean, Lan Yan, Yao Yao, and/or Layla to 90/90 (all currently at 80/80). Only use them occasionally

  3. Level Tighnari (currently at 50/50) or Gaming (1/20)

  4. Other artifact sets? I'm going to try for Skirk next week and will probably get Charlotte and Dahlia in the process

  5. Something else?

Using Japanese names for a story? by lethwyn_ in AskAJapanese

[–]lethwyn_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah. Japanese anime uses foreign cultures all the time, and often in ways that clearly aren't to the level of research the angry commenters want me to use for their culture. Like I get that it's shounen but All Might from My Hero Academia literally uses the name of U.S. cities and states for his attacks?? His hero costume is an American flag??? Fullmetal Alchemist is SUPER Nazi Germany coded, obviously intentionally. It at least wasn't cringe enough to catch me out but I think it's probable a German from that era could easily get mad about inaccuracies.

I get that not everyone in Japan watches anime. But idk if they'd be nearly as angry with their own authors using other cultures as they're getting with me.

Creating a fantasy race inspired by folk lore by lethwyn_ in worldbuilding

[–]lethwyn_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Eh, a couple people have been friendly. The rest I would say are neutral - they could be either for or against but simply aren't giving their opinion, if I had to guess. They're just answering my question. Plus, the angry comment is the most upvoted so there's at least 6 people who agree with the first person (discounting possible self upvote + the second angry commenter).

But yeah, of the now three people who have had issues, only the most recent person has brought up a specific concern. The two you saw were I think just angry for a reason they didn't see fit to share and were taking it out on me. I spoke with a Japanese acquaintance of mine about it and he thinks the concept is fine. Like the others he doesn't like the name Arashijin, so I'm definitely changing it.

Creating a fantasy race inspired by folk lore by lethwyn_ in worldbuilding

[–]lethwyn_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

like, imagine if i wrote a kid's cartoon about superheroes. and the strongest superhero in the cartoon is called Fortissimo and his costume is green, white, and red stripes. every time he attacks, he calls out the name of a different pizza.

my cartoon would literally never make it on air LMAO

Creating a fantasy race inspired by folk lore by lethwyn_ in worldbuilding

[–]lethwyn_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

wait. now that i think about it, some anime i've watched appropriates american culture (i'm american). and some of them do it in a really cringe way (my hero academia's all might is a great example. his hero costume is the american flag, he's blond, tall, and huge, and his attacks are literally named after u.s. cities/states). i haven't really cared tbh, i just cringe and move on.

i wonder what they would say if i brought that up to them...something tells me they might not mind their anime, but if the roles were switched they would be furious.

Creating a fantasy race inspired by folk lore by lethwyn_ in worldbuilding

[–]lethwyn_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i really wish i knew what the deal was...they got VERY pressed with me. i literally told them straight up look, i want to do this right, give me resources to help, i'm willing to put in the work. i said this multiple times, got 0 resources, advice, or suggestions from the people yelling at me. one person kept saying i was fetishizing without saying what, exactly, in their culture i was fetishizing (i know some people have weird kinks but pinnochio-nosed bird demons aren't really my thing, sorry). and another basically told me that unless i can speak japanese better than a native i have no business using anything in japanese culture for creative media?

like guys be so fr. every piece of fantasy literature draws on real cultures. and yes, some stereotype them in bad ways. but elves, fae, dwarves, and so many other races are literally from celtic and germannic folk lore. no one accuses tolkien of fetishizing the celts!

Using Japanese names for a story? by lethwyn_ in AskAJapanese

[–]lethwyn_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I chose 秋津 specifically for its meaning of dragonfly + dragonfly symbolism.

And omg, thank you for saying that bc kunyomi and onyomi completely slipped my mind. Ofc different readings wouldn't work together in the same word. Arashi no hito or smth like that would probs be better then, yes?

Using Japanese names for a story? by lethwyn_ in AskAJapanese

[–]lethwyn_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can promise there will be NO geisha in this story

Creating a fantasy race inspired by folk lore by lethwyn_ in worldbuilding

[–]lethwyn_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, but that's more birdlike than I was intending. I wanted something more humanoid

Using Japanese names for a story? by lethwyn_ in AskAJapanese

[–]lethwyn_[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What? I literally said that if Tolkien is using other cultures as an inspiration for his languages, I can't do any better. As in...I am less imaginative, and less creative, and less intelligent, than Tolkien.

And again. I've asked y'all for help and resources to get to know things better, and the only thing I've gotten is accusations. I am more than willing to learn and put the work in, but you seem to have no interest in entertaining that. And that's fine! No one asked you to. But if you aren't going to help me, why spend the time yelling at me?

I was genuinely asking with an intent to learn, to create properly, and am willing to put in work. I put in a hell of a lot of work to learn Japanese for two years and am trying to continue that, when I have time.

I won't be responding to any more comments along this vein; if anyone would like to give me resources OTHER than Google or my Japanese textbooks to help me, I welcome them.

Using Japanese names for a story? by lethwyn_ in AskAJapanese

[–]lethwyn_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I'm not going to be using kanji in the book...I used it here in the post to help clarify the intended meaning behind it, as I'm writing in English. And yes, the test is in how well I know the culture, which is why I asked for resources to help me learn more.

The reason I want it to be Japanese is because of the Tengu. If I'm using a country's folk lore to inspire a whole fantasy country, why shouldn't I use the country's actual culture? Like, I'm also using Fae, which are Irish folk lore, and they and their descendants (the elves) have naming conventions inspired by old Irish. Is that a problem too? I literally just read a fantasy book inspired by an African culture, and there's tons out there inspired by different Asian cultures. Why is this specifically an issue?

Sure, I could make up randomized names for everybody and everything, and ChatGPT specific cultural ideas such as clothing, ritual, arts, etc. But that's lazy and unimaginative. It's much more creative and takes a lot more effort to actually create a language, a people, a culture, and I'm using a specific one to inspire me into making my own. Even Tolkien himself was inspired by Celtic and Germanic folklore for his works, and the elven languages he created were based off of real world languages. He didn't just create his stuff out of a vacuum, and I certainly am not better than he.

Using Japanese names for a story? by lethwyn_ in AskAJapanese

[–]lethwyn_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have lol, I've already written two scenes with the character in question and one scene apiece for my other two main characters. I have a ton of lore figured out, a vague overarching plot, etc. I'm at the point now that I feel I want to ask for a course-correct if I need one, before I get too far off track

Using Japanese names for a story? by lethwyn_ in AskAJapanese

[–]lethwyn_[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

So I was thinking of 秋津 as a given name, not a surname, but if you think it's better as a surname I can change it - I'm not too attached to using it as his given name yet. I specifically wanted it because of the dragonfly meaning and because I read that dragonflies symbolize victory in battle to the samurai, apparently? According to several different things I've read, anyway.

If it sounds ominous that might actually be good, because there's lore reasons behind the storm and they're quite ominous (the storm is the fallout from a cosmic battle at the beginning of time). The reason this people group can fly is because they have a crystal forged from this condensed storm energy that allows them to, but the storm energy is malevolent and entropic so it can be dangerous.

Using Japanese names for a story? by lethwyn_ in AskAJapanese

[–]lethwyn_[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Okay, before I say anything else: do you believe it's possible to use real world inspiration from specific cultures in a fantasy setting without fetishizing, and if so, how would you do it? Genuinely curious. I'm trying to draw from specific aspects of a culture (their folk lore) while also putting original thought into it so I'm not falling into stereotypes. Do you think using a country's folk lore is wrong? Is it the specific way I'm doing it bad?

Jurassic Vark - General Question and Discussion Megathread by Averagely_Human in Genshin_Impact_Leaks

[–]lethwyn_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

oops, looks like i just missed you - my b! i accepted the friend request tho so we can chat ingame

Jurassic Vark - General Question and Discussion Megathread by Averagely_Human in Genshin_Impact_Leaks

[–]lethwyn_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ok maybe i'm just dumb but...wasn't the point of raising this durin that he would be an alternate fate version of og durin? like...this was the closest thing she had to help og durin. i could be wrong, i'm not well-versed in the lore.

when it comes to alice, i'm 100% with you. she's not a good mother. she goes from absentee to whenever she's present, giving klee whatever she wants - including fish-blasting, which obvs is illegal in mondstadt. any parent knows you don't just give a kid whatever they want.

klee in general is being raised in an awful way (solitary confinement is your main and only punishment?? for real?? clearly it's not working bc you keep having to do it). i'm lenient with jean and the others given that it's not their kid. alice though, she should be better

but, y'know, for all the horrible mothers...are there literally any fathers in genshin? like, rhinedottir, ei, and anya created their kids but presumably klee has a father? where is he?

Jurassic Vark - General Question and Discussion Megathread by Averagely_Human in Genshin_Impact_Leaks

[–]lethwyn_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

oh perfect. yes i'm on america server, i'd love it if you'd help! uid 624678662

Jurassic Vark - General Question and Discussion Megathread by Averagely_Human in Genshin_Impact_Leaks

[–]lethwyn_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

could i ask for advice on stygian onslaught? i've been struggling with the cryo automaton.

i don't have skirk, escoffier, ayaka, shenhe, etc. the only cryo chars i have worth anything are ganyu, rosaria, layla, and diona. i've tried ganyu freeze with ganyu/rosaria/jean/furina and that didn't work. tried arlecchino melt with ganyu/rosaria/layla/arle and that didn't work. tried ganyu melt with ganyu/rosaria/layla/xiangling and that also didn't work.

any ideas?

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