Write Me A River

🌾🍂🌖🍂🌾

It’s about the strange comfort of loss and alienation in americana.

Character named Hai Chen, making joke off her name

I mean, it’s kind of silly and reaching for low-hanging fruit (why wouldn’t Hai say “I’m Hai” or something like that), and also making fun of names. What does everyone else think?

–Mod Jess

Agreed. From this, I’m getting that the character’s only named Hai because “Haha that’s funny because in sounds funny in English!! xD”

Also, considering that Hai is a Vietnamese first name, I would expect a Vietnamese character to have their surname spelled with Vietnamese’s romanization- Tran, not Chen (Mandarin’s romanization of the name).

If you were going for a Vietnamese character, I would suggest changing the spelling to Tran however I’m sure that mixed Chinese/Vietnamese people could have their name spelled as such.

Even Vietnamese people influenced by Mandarin-speaking countries could have their name spelled with Mandarin’s romanization- I guess it depends on whether or not the character is Vietnamese.

TLDR: Please don’t make a joke out of a character named “Hai Chen”. The name itself isn’t bad, but using it as a cheap attempt at comedy is insulting. :)

~ Mod Em

Commentary

@trishmishtree Hai can also be a Chinese first name because literally any word can be a Chinese first name. But then it’s doubly silly because Hai’s parents would have named her Ocean

@magnetofanboy Also, 99% of the time, if you can make a joke about someone’s name, they’ve heard it before. Think about how it would feel if you had a name that people thought was funny and random people you met would make the same joke over and over. This applies for anyone, not just poc, but it affects poc disproportionately. It’s not an awful joke but I don’t think that anyone of color would find it funny.

@kristos-nikos My last name is Cox and throughout my youth, I got asked if my middle name was Sucks. Hilarious, right? Making fun of names in any context is some boring ass unnecessary shit.

@tomatobookworm Hai could be a Chinese given name, but the most likely option 海 (sea) is not an usual name for a woman. Why did the parents name her that? Was she born near the sea? Were the parents first generation and have to cross the sea to the new country? If there’s no back story, it would feel like the author just picked a random sound in naming the character.

@volleyness My brother’s name was 鹤(he) and he got made fun of in school because of how it was pronounced in English. He found it so annoying he gave himself an English name so people would stop making jokes with his name. I think that if the character is constantly having their name be the butt of a joke, they may find it more annoying than not so it wouldn’t really be funny for the 100th time.

@enchantrash-files unless op wants the character making the joke to be disliked by the reader, this aint a good idea. it’s insensitive asf

Teenagers find a shipwreck on the ground of a small lake with no access to the sea.

bruh

But yeah, it’s a WYSIWYG with a really straight-forward GUI, if I remember correctly.

It even comes with some free backgrounds and characters and stuff, and this is what it looks like:

Did I mention it’s super duper free? It hasn’t been updated since 2010, but it has basically all you’d need to make a simple visual novel.

A lot of people seem to have problems when it comes to describing a character’s race and how to approach it.

There are mutiple ways to drop hints about your charcters race/ethnicity/religion/etc.

1. Have them participate in a cultural holiday or tradition. Example: Anita couldn’t go to the party, because she was going to celebrate Diwali this weekend. or “I’d love to go to your cookout, but I don’t eat pork, and my little brother’s bar mitzvah is at the same time.”

2. Have them wear traditional clothing. Example: “I’m wearing this kimono, because I’m going to see my grandparents this afternoon to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary.” OR “You dashiki is the same color as my sari.”

3. Give your character a name from their cultural background.  Example: Youssef, Fatima, Valentina, Santiago, Wei, Min Jun, Nor, Sakura, Carlos, Mustafa, etc.

4. Traditional hairstyles Example: Ayanna’s newest dreadlocks were stylish and cute. Maybe I should ditch my cornrows and wear dreadlocks to switch up my look.

5. Mention extended family living in X country or other family history. Example: Sarah’s cousin from Ghana was visiting. Sarah’s parents immigrated from Ghana twenty years ago, so Sarah never got to know her extended family until now. OR “From all the stories my grandmother sounds like a great woman. Too bad she’s all the way in Yemen.”

6. Language. Either the character or their relatives can speak the language. Example: “I grew up speaking English and Thai, but my English is much better than my Thai. Trust me.” OR “I want my children to be immersed their culture. That’s why I’m teaching them Navajo.”

7. Have another character ask, mention it, etc. Example: “Finally another black girl! I was starting to think I was all alone.” OR “I’m Ethiopian, but you probably guessed that from the Ethiopian flag on my t-shirt. Where are you from?”

A lot of people seem to have problems when it comes to describing a character’s race and how to approach it.

There are mutiple ways to drop hints about your charcters race/ethnicity/religion/etc.

1. Have them participate in a cultural holiday or tradition. Example: Anita couldn’t go to the party, because she was going to celebrate Diwali this weekend. or “I’d love to go to your cookout, but I don’t eat pork, and my little brother’s bar mitzvah is at the same time.”

2. Have them wear traditional clothing. Example: “I’m wearing this kimono, because I’m going to see my grandparents this afternoon to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary.” OR “You dashiki is the same color as my sari.”

3. Give your character a name from their cultural background.  Example: Youssef, Fatima, Valentina, Santiago, Wei, Min Jun, Nor, Sakura, Carlos, Mustafa, etc.

4. Traditional hairstyles Example: Ayanna’s newest dreadlocks were stylish and cute. Maybe I should ditch my cornrows and wear dreadlocks to switch up my look.

5. Mention extended family living in X country or other family history. Example: Sarah’s cousin from Ghana was visiting. Sarah’s parents immigrated from Ghana twenty years ago, so Sarah never got to know her extended family until now. OR “From all the stories my grandmother sounds like a great woman. Too bad she’s all the way in Yemen.”

6. Language. Either the character or their relatives can speak the language. Example: “I grew up speaking English and Thai, but my English is much better than my Thai. Trust me.” OR “I want my children to be immersed their culture. That’s why I’m teaching them Navajo.”

7. Have another character ask, mention it, etc. Example: “Finally another black girl! I was starting to think I was all alone.” OR “I’m Ethiopian, but you probably guessed that from the Ethiopian flag on my t-shirt. Where are you from?”

A lot of people seem to have problems when it comes to describing a character’s race and how to approach it.

There are mutiple ways to drop hints about your charcters race/ethnicity/religion/etc.

1. Have them participate in a cultural holiday or tradition. Example: Anita couldn’t go to the party, because she was going to celebrate Diwali this weekend. or “I’d love to go to your cookout, but I don’t eat pork, and my little brother’s bar mitzvah is at the same time.”

2. Have them wear traditional clothing. Example: “I’m wearing this kimono, because I’m going to see my grandparents this afternoon to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary.” OR “You dashiki is the same color as my sari.”

3. Give your character a name from their cultural background.  Example: Youssef, Fatima, Valentina, Santiago, Wei, Min Jun, Nor, Sakura, Carlos, Mustafa, etc.

4. Traditional hairstyles Example: Ayanna’s newest dreadlocks were stylish and cute. Maybe I should ditch my cornrows and wear dreadlocks to switch up my look.

5. Mention extended family living in X country or other family history. Example: Sarah’s cousin from Ghana was visiting. Sarah’s parents immigrated from Ghana twenty years ago, so Sarah never got to know her extended family until now. OR “From all the stories my grandmother sounds like a great woman. Too bad she’s all the way in Yemen.”

6. Language. Either the character or their relatives can speak the language. Example: “I grew up speaking English and Thai, but my English is much better than my Thai. Trust me.” OR “I want my children to be immersed their culture. That’s why I’m teaching them Navajo.”

7. Have another character ask, mention it, etc. Example: “Finally another black girl! I was starting to think I was all alone.” OR “I’m Ethiopian, but you probably guessed that from the Ethiopian flag on my t-shirt. Where are you from?”

“Why do you have so many animal onsies?”

“Do you two have to argue each time you see each other?”

“Bomb making 101 did not cover this.”

“There’s no way in hell that I’d spend over a hundred dollars on that.”

“Diamonds? Don’t buy me diamonds. I can’t eat a diamond.”

“Why is there corn on this pizza?”

“Of course I had to enter the food eating contest. Was I supposed to turn down the opportunity to eat a bunch of free food?”

“Sniper One, come in. Sniper One, come in. Have you secured the box of doughnuts I ordered?”

“I’m the world’s oldest wrestler. I can take you on.”

“Watch me hack this toaster.” *slips on hacker sunglasses*

“I had some time on my hands, so I put a flame thrower on my scooter.”

“You need to stop singing the My Little Pony theme song every time things get awkward.”

A lot of people seem to have problems when it comes to describing a character’s race and how to approach it.

There are mutiple ways to drop hints about your charcters race/ethnicity/religion/etc.

1. Have them participate in a cultural holiday or tradition. Example: Anita couldn’t go to the party, because she was going to celebrate Diwali this weekend. or “I’d love to go to your cookout, but I don’t eat pork, and my little brother’s bar mitzvah is at the same time.”

2. Have them wear traditional clothing. Example: “I’m wearing this kimono, because I’m going to see my grandparents this afternoon to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary.” OR “You dashiki is the same color as my sari.”

3. Give your character a name from their cultural background.  Example: Youssef, Fatima, Valentina, Santiago, Wei, Min Jun, Nor, Sakura, Carlos, Mustafa, etc.

4. Traditional hairstyles Example: Ayanna’s newest dreadlocks were stylish and cute. Maybe I should ditch my cornrows and wear dreadlocks to switch up my look.

5. Mention extended family living in X country or other family history. Example: Sarah’s cousin from Ghana was visiting. Sarah’s parents immigrated from Ghana twenty years ago, so Sarah never got to know her extended family until now. OR “From all the stories my grandmother sounds like a great woman. Too bad she’s all the way in Yemen.”

6. Language. Either the character or their relatives can speak the language. Example: “I grew up speaking English and Thai, but my English is much better than my Thai. Trust me.” OR “I want my children to be immersed their culture. That’s why I’m teaching them Navajo.”

7. Have another character ask, mention it, etc. Example: “Finally another black girl! I was starting to think I was all alone.” OR “I’m Ethiopian, but you probably guessed that from the Ethiopian flag on my t-shirt. Where are you from?”

“Why do you have so many animal onsies?”

“Do you two have to argue each time you see each other?”

“Bomb making 101 did not cover this.”

“There’s no way in hell that I’d spend over a hundred dollars on that.”

“Diamonds? Don’t buy me diamonds. I can’t eat a diamond.”

“Why is there corn on this pizza?”

“Of course I had to enter the food eating contest. Was I supposed to turn down the opportunity to eat a bunch of free food?”

“Sniper One, come in. Sniper One, come in. Have you secured the box of doughnuts I ordered?”

“I’m the world’s oldest wrestler. I can take you on.”

“Watch me hack this toaster.” *slips on hacker sunglasses*

“I had some time on my hands, so I put a flame thrower on my scooter.”

“You need to stop singing the My Little Pony theme song every time things get awkward.”

A lot of people seem to have problems when it comes to describing a character’s race and how to approach it.

There are mutiple ways to drop hints about your charcters race/ethnicity/religion/etc.

1. Have them participate in a cultural holiday or tradition. Example: Anita couldn’t go to the party, because she was going to celebrate Diwali this weekend. or “I’d love to go to your cookout, but I don’t eat pork, and my little brother’s bar mitzvah is at the same time.”

2. Have them wear traditional clothing. Example: “I’m wearing this kimono, because I’m going to see my grandparents this afternoon to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary.” OR “You dashiki is the same color as my sari.”

3. Give your character a name from their cultural background.  Example: Youssef, Fatima, Valentina, Santiago, Wei, Min Jun, Nor, Sakura, Carlos, Mustafa, etc.

4. Traditional hairstyles Example: Ayanna’s newest dreadlocks were stylish and cute. Maybe I should ditch my cornrows and wear dreadlocks to switch up my look.

5. Mention extended family living in X country or other family history. Example: Sarah’s cousin from Ghana was visiting. Sarah’s parents immigrated from Ghana twenty years ago, so Sarah never got to know her extended family until now. OR “From all the stories my grandmother sounds like a great woman. Too bad she’s all the way in Yemen.”

6. Language. Either the character or their relatives can speak the language. Example: “I grew up speaking English and Thai, but my English is much better than my Thai. Trust me.” OR “I want my children to be immersed their culture. That’s why I’m teaching them Navajo.”

7. Have another character ask, mention it, etc. Example: “Finally another black girl! I was starting to think I was all alone.” OR “I’m Ethiopian, but you probably guessed that from the Ethiopian flag on my t-shirt. Where are you from?”