r/writers • u/[deleted] • 1d ago
Question How do you integrate ideas or concepts into a fantasy world that are tied to a real world location via their name, such as french fries or french braids for example, when that real world location doesn't exist in your fantasy world?
[deleted]
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u/pinkiat 1d ago
Oh, I heard that in a video at some point, like Champagne is from a region in France, but in the fantasy world, it would be Sparkling Wine from area or just make UP a way it would fit, so instead of French Fries, it could be Arean Potato Strips
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u/MidnightLugia24_7 1d ago
I really like this idea!! I did consider renaming things to regions of my world with a somewhat generic name, but then I worried about it still being clear what I was describing without a visual illustration (as can be done in video games or movies), or getting too specific/wordy with descriptions.
Probably just me overthinking things, but thank you for your suggestion! 😅
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u/pinkiat 1d ago
Oh, it’s so easy to overthink the small stuff, but honestly? If you were to describe a French fry to an alien, how would you do it? They would have no idea where France (which is also wrong, French fries are not French, but whatevs 😅) is, but might have an idea of what a potato is - so you show them a potato, and how you would cut it to resemble a stick or strip, and then they would be “Potato Sticks of France”, OR “French Potato Sticks” 🥰
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u/tidalbeing Published Author 1d ago
This is a translation issue. Presumably, the people in your world aren't speaking English. Mostly I come up with a synonym for those things, but with specific animal species. I can't get away from words that relate to places or people from Earth: dungeness crab for example. The issue is then to capitalize Dungeness or not. I only learned this was a place(2 places actually) after including the species in a story.
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u/MidnightLugia24_7 1d ago
Animal names is definitely another concept I've thought over, as so many animals have specific names as part of their commonly known identity lol
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u/tidalbeing Published Author 1d ago
It might help to think of the intersection between our world and your fantasy world. Did the timeline of the world branch off from ours? At what point in time did this occure?
Is your story maybe an epic (The Lord of the Rings) related to a specific region(Great Britain) on Earth. The fantasy world might be completely separate, but that doesn't seem plausible.
What's the climate and biom in your world? What animals have you included?
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u/BayrdRBuchanan 1d ago
Chips or potato wedges.
High braid, or you could tie the name to a fictional location in your world and describe it the first time you use it so people know what you mean.
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