huh. i thought that by making the girin fam they were acknowledging the westernization of their design, i guess I misread bc their design is ... well, idk that i'd say their design is "westernized" necessarily. but it's not at all what id call "fully leaning into" the inspiration. it's more "qilin inspired" than "a qilin". (replace qilin with girin or kirin or gilen)
which is fine to make a design that is merely /inspired/ by qilin, imo!
but it feels hella condescending and white guilt-y to have several paragraphs about wanting to be culturally sensitive and "leaning into" the qilin inspiration and then they show us a horse/unicorn dragon with paws. i think the design is pretty, fwiw, and im excited to see that foal.
but it's got about as much in common with a qilin as obelisks do with guardian lions/shishi. which is to say that there's an obvious Inspira there, but it's not A Qilin, nor is it "fully leaning into" the inspiration.
It does feel, as you put it, "white guilt-y", but I don't think it's performative or intended to be condescending. I think staff has just been burned by the type of fanbase FR has cultivated in the last decade one too many times and are playing it safe. (From their perspective. I think they're damned if they do and damned if they don't and am not sure I would have handled this the way they did, TBH.)
I'm hazarding a guess in that some of the design choices were made to make it feel more like a dragon, since they also acknowledge that the qilin (etc) is generally not considered a "dragon". So there was probably a balancing act of 'leaning into' and 'but also make it a dragon' that might be clashing. I think.
it's more "qilin inspired" than "a qilin". (replace qilin with girin or kirin or gilen)
Aeq has clarified multiple times that's the point. The wind ancient is a dragon, a qilin/kirin/girin is not. They made the familiar a more true version of a girin.
-the Cirrus dragon is a gem breed. This would mean we’re placing content heavily inspired by and borrowing from a specific culture into our premium currency marketplace.
- this gives us the chance to *****draw a clearer line between the girin and Cirrus dragons****** while still celebrating the rich art history, myths, and folklore that have inspired so many.
I literally look at it every time and I'm just like "That's a generic af Kirin" they didn't lean away from anything besides just replacing the hooves with toes
like they have removed some of the "asian flavour" to make this breed
and the paragraphs of talking about striving to be culturally sensitive after showing the design, as a result, feels condescending. particularly in a "white guilt" way. this is not an unfamiliar feeling for many poc.
not to mention the comment above what youre replying to, where they state they "fully leaned in" to the qilin design. so ... did they or didn't they?
if they showed off the breed and /just/ said it was loosely inspired by qilin, full stop, no white guilt handwringing about cultural appropriation for drawing a mythological made-up hybrid animal, i wouldnt have any salt about it. i like the design, even, and im excited for the horsies. im irritated by the text accompanying it and came to the bitching anon comm to bitch about it.
Yeah I definitely think they should have been like "here's our new kirin inspired dragon :)" (and MAYBE thrown in the bit about working with a cultural sensitivity expert?) and left it at that.
The more they explain, the more avenues they give people to criticize them. I know they're trying to clear the air, from their perspective, but... I feel like it usually has the opposite effect???
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Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-07 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-07 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)which is fine to make a design that is merely /inspired/ by qilin, imo!
but it feels hella condescending and white guilt-y to have several paragraphs about wanting to be culturally sensitive and "leaning into" the qilin inspiration and then they show us a horse/unicorn dragon with paws. i think the design is pretty, fwiw, and im excited to see that foal.
but it's got about as much in common with a qilin as obelisks do with guardian lions/shishi. which is to say that there's an obvious Inspira there, but it's not A Qilin, nor is it "fully leaning into" the inspiration.
Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-09 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-07 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-07 11:21 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-07 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)Aeq has clarified multiple times that's the point. The wind ancient is a dragon, a qilin/kirin/girin is not. They made the familiar a more true version of a girin.
-the Cirrus dragon is a gem breed. This would mean we’re placing content heavily inspired by and borrowing from a specific culture into our premium currency marketplace.
-
this gives us the chance to *****draw a clearer line between the girin and Cirrus dragons****** while still celebrating the rich art history, myths, and folklore that have inspired so many.
Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-07 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-07 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)like they have removed some of the "asian flavour" to make this breed
and the paragraphs of talking about striving to be culturally sensitive after showing the design, as a result, feels condescending. particularly in a "white guilt" way. this is not an unfamiliar feeling for many poc.
not to mention the comment above what youre replying to, where they state they "fully leaned in" to the qilin design. so ... did they or didn't they?
if they showed off the breed and /just/ said it was loosely inspired by qilin, full stop, no white guilt handwringing about cultural appropriation for drawing a mythological made-up hybrid animal, i wouldnt have any salt about it. i like the design, even, and im excited for the horsies. im irritated by the text accompanying it and came to the bitching anon comm to bitch about it.
tl;dr it's just like my opinion man
Re: Wind Ancient
(Anonymous) 2025-05-09 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)The more they explain, the more avenues they give people to criticize them. I know they're trying to clear the air, from their perspective, but... I feel like it usually has the opposite effect???