Chasejxyz
Inkling
I, and I'm sure many of you, use the word "earth" and "moon" and "the sun" to refer to the ground/dirt and that thing in the sky, since they're generic terms for things (like our sun is named Sol but we never call it that, it's always just the sun). In a fantasy world, where there is no connection to our reality, we also accept that the characters aren't literally speaking/thinking in modern (American or British) English, but the story is presented as such because the author (and the readers) write/read that. We use words and phrases that have etymologies based on real people, places, or events and we accept that, too.
My question is: at what point is that too much? The Royal Capital isn't going to have a Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, of course, but your story probably has assassins, so does that also mean that your world has hashish (i.e. cannabis)? A lot of words from Dune* are just straight-up lifted from Islamic culture, but the average person probably didn't know about jihads when it was first released (or they didn't have the same relationship to it as we do in a post 9/11 world), does that make it more acceptable?
I've been thinking about this since my next project will be having a "magic" system based on alchemy and I want to have seven [important things] based off the seven planets/planetary metals...but those are names we all know from reality are from Roman gods. I would feel that if I said "Jupiter" or "Mars" then the reader will assume that this is our Earth (either alt-Earth or fantasy Britain or something) since why would a made up planet have the same solar system as us? Or I could pull a Dune and take a name from a culture/language less well known by readers, but that feels kind of gross to do.
* Dune technically isn't second world, it's a very far future, but it might as well be, since it's 20,000+ years ahead of us and has "magic" and spice and all that other stuff that can't exist in reality
My question is: at what point is that too much? The Royal Capital isn't going to have a Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, of course, but your story probably has assassins, so does that also mean that your world has hashish (i.e. cannabis)? A lot of words from Dune* are just straight-up lifted from Islamic culture, but the average person probably didn't know about jihads when it was first released (or they didn't have the same relationship to it as we do in a post 9/11 world), does that make it more acceptable?
I've been thinking about this since my next project will be having a "magic" system based on alchemy and I want to have seven [important things] based off the seven planets/planetary metals...but those are names we all know from reality are from Roman gods. I would feel that if I said "Jupiter" or "Mars" then the reader will assume that this is our Earth (either alt-Earth or fantasy Britain or something) since why would a made up planet have the same solar system as us? Or I could pull a Dune and take a name from a culture/language less well known by readers, but that feels kind of gross to do.
* Dune technically isn't second world, it's a very far future, but it might as well be, since it's 20,000+ years ahead of us and has "magic" and spice and all that other stuff that can't exist in reality