#chinese-american character

[colorfulfoxengineer]

[cardinal-island]

[colorfulfoxengineer]

Two-hand vs. Ginji

Scan from Black Lagoon, by Rei Hiroe.

[bananafishdepression]

Life is so unfair there are so many shitty shows out there with a dub and Banana Fish never got one and its been 6 years now

[kickbutt-avenue]

Street Fighter Masters: Lily cover by enerjax

[ohihopeicanchangethislater]

I may be white, unmarried, and not a dad, but I am so ready to be this genre of father

Edit: I can't figure out how to get rid of this space so I'm just writing this here

[munchy-k]

for me the hardest part of making a character is coming up with a good name. especially if its a name in another language

i envy 11 year old me who used to just open a random name generator, click the button a few times and then call it a day

[qrevo]

we should start making ocgrams based on our own countries and cultures fr

[northern-passage]

I came across the character Branwen* in my most recent play-through and was curious if she's supposed to be Inuit or not? It was just a bit unclear since she has a chin-stripe tattoo, a Welsh name, and comes from Gael (which I'm under the impression is supposed to be Norse inspired?) Neither the Welsh/Celts or Norse had tattoos like these and the imagery of such comes from the appropriation of Inuit kakiniit. It's unfortunately common, especially in the fantasy genre, think Yasha from Critical Role, and I wouldn't really blame you for not yet knowing better. Misguided or not, it's very damaging since these tattoos are a closed practice, and Inuit have asked us not to use them for non-indigenous characters. Some other cultures have similar tattoos, but these are specifically what are appropriated from in the "Norse aesthetic".

This could be a great opportunity to represent a community that's regularly misrepresentationed and appropriated from in the genre, though! I don't believe you had any ill intentions, if this is a mistake you've made, since you've done really well about a lot of other things so far.

Also, I've done a lot of research on the topic for my own world building and I can try to help if you have any questions!

Here's a list of Inuk creators and artists from my own following (on TikTok specifically):

kadlun

willow.allen

notdayle

shinanova

And fairy.gothparent (not indigenous) has some really educational content on the subject also!

I'm sorry I've misread or misinterpreted anything, and I hope none of this came off as aggressive! I'm just genuinely curious and want to help others do better!

hi :-) no worries, you are not aggressive at all. Branwen is not meant to be Inuit, nor is she meant to be Welsh or Norse. Gael and Adrania are just Fantasy Lands with their own lore & culture-- but with that being said, i am fully aware that the setting for TNP is very much giving medieval Europe, hahahaha. regardless, when i choose names they are mainly just because i like them, so i wouldn't put too much stock in them when reading.

same thing when i designed Branwen, the tattoo was mostly for the aesthetic and because i liked it. i was aware of a few different types of indigenous tattoos (like the Māori tāmoko as well as the Inuit kakiniit) at the time i chose the thick, solid line because i was purposefully trying to avoid conflating it directly with those indigenous tattoos. you're the first person to point this out to me and i appreciate it and it has made me reevaluate my decision to give her such a distinct tattoo. i wanted tattoos to be a big part of Gaelish culture & planned for them to be made with heavy lines & geometry, but in the end a lot of the designs are all over the place (Merry's are way more modern due to basing some of the designs around nautical/sailor tattoos with only a few geometric designs, while Lea's are strictly geometric runes meant for their alchemy)

i absolutely want to avoid misrepresenting these tattoos, especially since it was never my intention for this character to be interpreted as a part of any of the mentioned indigenous groups. this is a good reminder for myself that my work does not exist in a vacuum and regardless of my intentions, the names i choose & the designs i make still reflect my own personal biases and have implications outside of my story.

i appreciate you messaging me and sharing resources. and i always want to encourage people to do so! especially because in my worldbuilding for Gael and Adrania i am pulling inspiration from a lot of different places and a lot of other fantasy media. i've always intended for Adrania to be a "melting pot," with a lot of different influences as in-game cultures converge around their ports & trade routes, but that can also lead to me unintentionally harming real world groups & cultures in my interpretations. as much as i want to "build from scratch" it's just not possible, i will always be influenced by the society i live in, hence me including the tattoo to begin with because you're right, i have seen similar designs in other fantasy media & just didn't think much about it.

going forward i'll most likely just remove that tattoo from Branwen's design, and maybe give her a neck tattoo instead 🤔 just something different to distinguish it from those indigenous designs.

[clonerightsagenda]

Kind of feel like Novik gave El a Chinese friend and made her half-Indian to try to offset the optics of the Sinister Chinese Bloc but I'm not sure it's working

[colorfulfoxengineer]

"Sisters"

[cardinal-island]

[verylead-flavored-candy33]

[mello-t-befan]

The video accompanying this project (turn the english subtitles ON ^^)

If, like me, you grew up watching the animated series of the 2000s, those broadcast on Disney Channel should be among your favorites. There was a bit of everything : spin-offs for the films of this experimental period of the studios, "Kim Possible" for the adventurers among us, "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" for space-opera fans and urban fantasy fans were entitled to "American Dragon: Jake Long" !

In my new pitch, the world would be mostly like how it is in the original series. Except that not all dragons have the charge of a specific territory. This is the role of the Dragon Protectors, trained and formed to defend magical beings and humans from each other. And if a Potential is particularly worthy, then the Great Council of Dragons designates them as some place's Protector and entrusts them to a familiar spirit, in charge of assisting them in their task. Under the tutelage of his maternal grandfather, Jake Long learns to control his dragon powers in New-York City so that he can become its Protector in the future. And as in the original series, it will be a semi-follow up story in which Jake will become aware of the responsibilities of a Dragon Protector, learn more about the magical world and face the setbacks of the transition to adulthood.

Name : Jake Long Age : 13 Occupations : middle-schooler, dragon in training Territory : New-York City Power/Abilities : acrobatics, skateboarding, dancing, transformation, ochre-colored flames, sharp senses, improvisation, flying, fighting Likes : skating, rap, hanging out with his pals, winning, his family, magical beings Hates : studying, losing, bullies/show-offs, his loved ones being hurt, the Huntsclan, the Dark Dragon

To read how I would rewrite him, just check the pitch ^^

Name : Luong Lao Shi Age : 60s Occupations : electronics store owner, ex-Dragon Protector Territory : Hong Kong (formerly) Power/Abilities : transformation, white flames, sharp senses, flying, fighting, magical knowledge, tinkering Likes : his family, magical beings, reading, disco Hates : his loved ones being hurt, the Huntsclan, the Dark Dragon, insolence, scammers, bad drivers Name : Fu Dog Age : 600 (approx.) Occupations : ex-familiar, pet/therapy dog Dragon charge : Luong Lao Shi Power/Abilities : speech, bipedal walk, magical knowledge, alchemy, bargaining, spying Likes : his family, magical beings, betting, winning his bets, romance, enjoying life Hates : his loved ones being hurt, the Huntsclan, the Dark Dragon, losing his bets, having debts, getting scammed, talking about the past

In my new pitch, Lao Shi is the former Protector Dragon of Hong Kong and Fu Dog was his familiar spirit. Except that after being seriously injured in his duel against the Dark Dragon, Lao Shi had to stop everything and Fu Dog was deprived of most of his powers for not having properly protected Lao Shi. Years later, as Jake shows that he inherited the dragon powers from their family, Lao Shi decides to train him to become the New York Protector Dragon and be ready should the Dark Dragon ever return. But is he really doing it to protect Jake, or is he doing it for revenge... ?

Name : Trixie "Trix" Carter Age : 13 Occupations : middle-schooler, DJ in training Territory : New-York City Power/Abilities : acrobatics, skateboarding, dancing, music mixing, improvisation, marketing Likes : her family, skating, being DJ, rap, hanging out with her pals Hates : her loved ones being hurt, biology, bullies/show-offs, stereotypes Name : Arthur "Spud" Spudinski Age : 13 Occupations : middl-schooler, busboy Territory : New-York City Power/Abilities : acrobatics, skateboarding, dancing, computer science, research, improvisation Likes : his family, skating, eating, rap, hanging out with his pals Hates : his loved ones being hurt, proving his intelligence, bullies/show-offs

In my new pitch, Trixie would be the band’s main music fan and would be the amateur DJ at the school parties; so I gave her a headset. For Spud I want to take the "lazy and weird but brilliant" approach. Namely that he pretends to be an average student -AVERAGE, not stupid- to camouflage his intellect known only to Jake and Tracy. That doesn’t stop him from playing with the school machines to have fun anonymously. The both of them will be Jake’s best friends since elementary school and then his partners once informed of his magical identity. Moreover, they will guarantee a certain simplicity/normality in the regime sometimes too strict to which Lao Shi submits him.

Name : Rose Age : 14 Occupations : middle-schooler, Huntsmaster's ward and apprentice Territory : New-York City Power/Abilities : acrobatics, combat, improvisation, weapons handling, dancing, acting Likes : reading, acting, variety music, being with friends Hates : magical beings, dragons, suck-ups, broccoli

In my new pitch, I would like to focus a little more on her heel-face turn. Rose grew up in hatred and disgust of magical beings, who were always designated as natural errors by the Huntsclan. Especially Dragons who, with their power of transformation, are insults to Humanity -from the Hunters' point of view, I mean. She's therefore convinced to act in the interest of mankin by helping these genocidal poachers. And when she learns that the boy for whom she developed a little crush is actually one of those monsters she was taught to kill on sight, you can imagine that her vision of life and the rest collapses in a huge crash. Will Rose accept to change her vision of things, or will she sink into the darkness she's always known ?

[kickbutt-avenue]

Unused art for Secret File #28, by Tamio.

[universe-of-peoples]

I have a theory that all the people who complain about tv show/live action adaptations being different from the source material are people who definitely did NOT read fanfiction in middle school. We consumed hundreds of stories with the same tropes/plot points/characters but with different details and we liked it!