The Great Elush Makeover | Worldbuilding

[@BoogsterSugar]

As I come from a family of seamstresses, I LOVE garment world building, but for me it always leans on intricate sewing patterns, traditional standards and tailoring for a shape, because I do that irl, so this approach feels very fresh and freeing ❤

[@NakariSpeardane]

Thank you!! I find the ways sewing develops + how it impacts the shape of clothing SO cool :D

[@knockoutnorko7500]

Oh do say mate! What makes yer heart sing when it comes tae that? :D

[@sirdash7365]

i agree i always find the garment world building immensely interesting, and it's always what i struggle with the most in my own settings

[@valentinmitterbauer4196]

Fun fact: One of the oldest intact pair of socks is from roman egypt (300AD-500AD), made by nalebinding and was intended to be worn with sandals. Socks with sandals are 1000 years older than button fastening!

[@hozie6795]

I'm in a sprawling TTRPG campaign that's set in an Iron Age Mesopotamian setting in the late stages of a divinely-inflicted apocalypse. The player characters are inhabitants of the last city, which was spared by the God of Death; as a result, a lot of our adventures involve going out into the ruined world for both loot and lore. When we were exploring the lost city of Eriqadaa, we found a weird "cloth shoe" in the quarters of some long-dead civic magistrate. We were all perplexed by it, and spent a while poking at it, trying to figure out if it had any sorcerous properties, wondering about its purpose, asking detailed questions about the materials and patterns and whatnot-eventually, we brought it back to our NPC translator, who informed us that the Eriqai had the odd custom of wearing an extra shoe called a "sok" under their sandals because they thought it was cleaner. It still strikes me as one of my favorite experiences in any fantasy game I've ever been in, because for a few minutes I was fully immersed in the headspace of someone who had never heard of socks.

[@julessayshi1]

I love the body paint! They already have HEAVY pottery lore, and the idea that they paint themselves like their pottery is some EXCELLENT worldbuilding. They only question I have is their thoughts on tattoos rather than just paint. Though perhaps they haven't discovered ink for the skin yet. It was just a thought I had. PLEASE keep making more videos! I love this channel and ALL the worlds you've made, not just this one 😁

[@NakariSpeardane]

It's like the bit about not embroidering clothing after it's made. A design added to the surface of something just shouldn't be permanent. It's just wrong! So temporary paint is fine but tattoos would be really weird to them :P

[@tux_duh]

I admire your respect for other cultures!! I hate when fantasy worlds are just a bad representation of a real life culture

[@valentinmitterbauer4196]

It's something that bothered me for quite some time. Pseudo- Europe usually gets at least 2 cultural areas, most times its over 4 different ones, meanwhile pseudo- asia gets two at most (east asian and west asian) and pseudo- africa often needs to share its one single culture with pseudo-australia. The "american" reaction to this critique is sometimes even worse: By simply making a multi-ethnic society whos members, for whatever reason, do not mingle genetically, yet feature no cultural variety whatsover. Basically, they are uncontiously recreating an american-looking population, but with a single culture, blissfully ignoring, that, without the unique situation of american history (segregation, banning mixed marriages, racialism), a mono-cultural, but multi-ethnic people would have just formed a new, homogenous ethnicity after only a few generations by mingling their genetics.

[@colbyboucher6391]

Not gonna lie shit like this has just stopped me from worldbuilding entirely. Impossible to do anything without it pissing *someone* off

[@tux_duh]

@@colbyboucher6391 I mean as long as you're not writing like Jk Rowling, you're probably good. I don't mean "be exactly authentic to every culture ever" I mean, do research and understand why cultures do certain things, don't mix and match without any logical reason just for an aesthetic unless that's the express purpose of your world I.e. don't have the Valkyrie come collect a fallen Buddhist monk who just took 5 Golems out (It just doesn't make sense Valkries only collect fallen Germanic warriors who worshipped Odin, Buddhist monks wouldn't murder, Golems are a Jewish folklore that protects Jewish communities)

[@Coconut_man0125]

What i just did is start on a stone age society with basic tools, clothing, and lifestyle appropriate for the environment they live in, and just randomize everything from there. Cultural diffusion, spread of technology, cuisine, and trade, all determined by rolling the dice.

[@emmathomas2832]

Hi! Fun fact: linen doesnt keep hold of natural dyes very well with the minor exception of woad (blue). It tends to take a natural colour and the colour washes out very easily. Do with this information what you will. Maybe its seen as more of that "applying colour after a thing is finished is weird" thing or maybe they use magic to make it stick. Maybe you redye your linens? Maybe they weave wool into their linen as it takes colour much better?

[@snowglobe4784]

I'm wheezing at all the casual death faking in the bios. I'm sure there's context for it but without it it's really something

[@NakariSpeardane]

Most Elush live in the same house their whole life! So if you want to move it's easiest to just. Start a new life. In a very literal way.

[@snowglobe4784]

@@NakariSpeardane That makes a lot of sense ! I guess I just hadn't connected the dots that far

[@kirkkerman]

​@NakariSpeardane looking at this again and that just game me the amusing image of someone from Elush who wants to move on but also doesn't want their community grieving so they end up notifying their family and neighbors "hey, I'm gonna be faking my death next Thursday, you should totally come to my goodbye party!"

[@drpigglesnuudelworte5209]

All I know is I want a lot of very beautiful and elaborate headscarf styles because the geography and climate of the region is inspired by the Middle East and headscarves are extremely useful in arid climates to not get sunburned, leading to skin cancer, and then death (this is why the Middle East has such modest clothing btw it protects your skin from the sun)

[@horseenthusiast9903]

This is making me realise I'd love to know more about gender and the symbolism associated with it in Elush! I found the clothes and makeup of Angal, Lillu, and Ashur-Annat be the most fascinating (also will someone please bring Lillu some new snacks and ffs just let Angal grill lol). And as someone who sews a lot, I always love to see textile worldbuilding. :)

[@aerie.the.artist]

Genuinely at first I thought that the designs were nice enough BUT MAN, THE FARTHER I GOT INTO THE VIDEO, THE MORE I LOVED THE NEW ONES Your work here really inspires me to rework my own project, at least in the clothing department lol!

[@MGDrzyzga]

I totally hear you on concerns about cultural appropriation and how to seek inspiration without crossing that line. I also employed face paint in my worldbuilding, and I just want to share a few things I arrived at that way. First, since my world is post-apocalyptic, I drew upon some more modern influences - the patterns are full of circuitry and playing card motifs. So even if it's easy to see Aboriginal or African tribal influences in heavily painted faces, the very obvious heart, diamond, spade, and club motifs really recontextualize it. Especially if you see, for example, a fridge door as a shield. Second, in building my own symbols from the ground up, one I really adore is the apprentice shaman pattern. You see, during certain periods of time during training, the apprentice is sworn to a vow of silence - religious doctrine holds that some knowledge they gain during training is dangerous, and their voice is sealed until they've proven their worth. And so the face paint makes it look like their lips are sewn shut by the circuitry, and the nodes of those circuits are open eyes. So the face paint visually portrays the doctrine - they have traded their voice for greater insight. They have opened their eyes and sealed their mouth. And the third example I want to give - the main setting is actually quite a bit after the apocalypse - long enough for these Rust Tribes to build new nations. So now there are noble houses. And these houses do not bear coats of arms - rather, it is the face paint that symbolizes each house. (In fact, by this era, face paint has become more subdued in the general populace, and it's only nobles and the ruling elite that sport ornate face paint daily.)

[@AnkhAnanku]

I really like the shaman’s apprentice idea. Apprenticeship is often abusive and exploitative, and silencing complaints would be a great way to keep them from getting uppity / break them down. Less insidiously / more meaningfully, it is said that partial knowledge is more dangerous than none at all. A lot of spiritual traditions withhold certain teachings until an initiate is prepared to understand them. They also don’t want their students repeating and spreading idea before they fully understand them, as it can create lots of confusion and heresy. Walking out halfway through a lesson on transcendentalism one might start denying material realities and become a really callous asshole. Is there any way these rules are enforced or is it more of a social agreement? Like is there a cybernetic implant that actually interferes with speech that has to be removed by their teacher? Or maybe if any person in this society sees an apprentice who bears the mark of silence speaking it would be treated as a hideous crime?

[@MGDrzyzga]

@@AnkhAnanku spot-on about partial knowledge vs full knowledge. And about the social enforcement of these rules. Once the apprentice first dons this face paint and the vow in a public ceremony before being taught specific rites. So everyone know they're not supposed to talk, and they all know the apprentice is supposed to keep wearing that special marking on their face until the vow has elapsed. It's just not easy to break expectations without having everyone find out. And that's how it's enforced - the apprentice is judged if they break it, and the layperson is judged for failing to enforce it. As for how transgressions are punished - that's something that varies from one Rust Tribe to another. Given the vow is silence is to protect knowledge, violation will likely lead to expulsion from the priesthood. It may also include banishment or mutilation that removes the ability to speak. There could be branding or tattooing to mark them as an expelled shaman. In some variations I find very interesting - these failed shamans may become a tabooed social caste. (I wonder if caste is too strong a term, if they're not that common). Point is, imagine city slums where the back alley "doctor" is an ex-shaman that most people limit their contact with.

[@AnkhAnanku]

@@MGDrzyzga back-alley shamans X) “Sure, two for one special on karmic disentanglment. Bring me a bottle of bathtub berry hooch and I’ll cut the “tail” off of that scrap pick for you, too. BTW your grandma says to stop scratching that rash on, well, you know where…”

[@ESCL2004]

Oh hey! I remember seeing your worldbuilding on Reddit. Really cool stuff you got there.

[@MGDrzyzga]

@@ESCL2004 thanks! Yeah, I was wondering if anyone would recognize the keirex sandbox!

[@worldbuildingjuice]

Clothing is something i'm kinda afraid of fleshing out because in real life there's so many styles & substyles & implicit & explicit social meanings to them all, & i feel like i could never do it justice. I'm also afraid of just copy pasting real life things. I love the designs youve thought out - both for the clothing & the paints/tattoos. They look nice & pretty.

[@Kometaf]

ooooh, this video is super fun i like how your models turned out in the end! :) "just wants to grill" - what a mood xD

[@cyberhonk2999]

i love the way you use geometric shapes in the patterns for their clothing, that combined with the vibrant colors look really cool

[@IAmBene]

I love worldbuilding clothing! I've been wanting to make a similar kind of video about one of my worldbuilding projects, but the drawings take forever, and I'm never quite satisfied.

[@NakariSpeardane]

Totally fair, clothes are SO HARD to be satisfied with v_v

[@kirkkerman]

I'm just commenting after the part with the veils, but I think it could be kinda neat if they could have veils that match their hair color, that way they can protect their hair and faces on sunny days while still advertising that attractive feature. Just a quick thought after seeing the yellow veil on the blonde lad! (Edit: misgendered Lillu. Thanks overwhelming western gender norms!)

[@1stfedorafish763]

A fun fact I had learned a while ago roughly was that anthropologists believe we first decorated ourselves before we ever wore clothing. It was some african tribes that the british discovered that were completely nude but were covered in artwork on their skin. This was a while ago and unfortunatly many of the tribes were force to live in cities because of colonialism. But either way, dependant on how long ago the Elush started wearing clothing it would be interesting to put art on their bodies that would normally be covered up or expose the art. I'm not saying make them nude but maybe they put tats on their stomachs and thus have apparel exposing the stomach. In my world. Elves commonly have artwork on the sides of the torsos' and create clothing to expose the sides of their torsos' to show the art. art dictating not just earrings or jewelery but clothing in general. I love this world and the clothing adds so much immersion into it.

[@llsilvertail561]

Bro every time I watch one of your videos I feel tempted to actually start properly working on the worldbuilding ideas floating through my head. They’re honestly so inspiring.

[@orange630]

I love your videos, they are so pretty, direct and, in a way, cozy. Also when it comes to cultrual appropriation, the best way to avoid it is to simply get inspired by elements of specific cultures that work within the bounds of your worlds. At least in my opinion, taking anything wholesale so to speak is going to be detractory, and taking anything from a broad socio-historic area like for example: all of africa, only serves to compound the disrespect, thus if for example someone has a civilization that is meant to be slavic what would upset me (a slav, born and raised) would be having stuff like them be annoying big musle drunkards who are technologically behind and kinda neanderthal-esque, like many fantasy settings describe us, instead of something that proves your actual knowledge of slavic culture, like the worship of ancient trees, living in tune with the four seasons and basing festivals off of that, architecture more reliant on wood (since all of Poland for example was once a huge forest and good stone was hard to come by), etc. And if any one of these elements is taken, I don't think anyone would be upset if the civilization you are writing is Your-enough, and what I mean by that is that it makes sense why they would have that element and why the inspiration is in slavic culture, but is still just one element of something unique that may bring light onto such elements of real cultures existing, and inspiring more people to look into them. And I don't think you ever have to be from the culture you are being inspired by, obviously, because if that's a requirement the growth of human culture would need to cease. Basically tl;dr I think that as long as real cultural elements are integrated in a way that makes sense into a larger fantastical culture that is clearly your own creation and are implemented with clear intent and knowledge on the subject, it's hard to call it appropriation. Crucial here is the intent, because without clear intent and knowledge it is just repeating stereotypes/factoids we just heard at some point and they sounded cool. This applies to wearing clothes IRL too, at least in my opinion.

[@naolucillerandom5280]

...my little guys canonically did shameless plagiarizing of the victorians 😂

[@tux_duh]

I don't know much about Slavic culture but ive always appreciated your seasonal festivals, they seem like alot of fun! Folk customs have always been intriguing to me, especially those of Northern Europe in places where tree worship was heavy

[@Tig__0]

always love your videos and ideas nakari!! I appreciate the respect you give to other cultures (was really happy to see the egyptian inspiration as an egyptian myself!)

[@Tig__0]

another detail i love about your world building is that theres lots of diversity, especially in one nation! i see most worldbuilders do this thing where each nation has a single look and skin tone, so this is a fresh breath of air if you ask me👍

[@MulattoUltra-lk3bt]

Cultural appropriation done with genuine fascination and curiousity is not a bad thing.

[@jimothyworldbuilding3664]

This is really cool! I can't pretend I've done all that much regarding clothing. I describe the clothing of characters in stories, but not much about the decorations, except when they're specific to the character, or sub-culture, or serve a practical purpose (I'm really lacking on the decorative side of what different peoples wear), rather than being cultural generally. And a lot of the decorative stuff is just morbid things, or just sad. Probably the saddest is Berdu's skull mask. In his culture, if you murder someone, their skull is integrated into a living mask that's grown onto your face and can't be taken off. It secretes a slight poison into the bloodstream, weakening you and dulling your reaction time. People who see you wearing the mask are required to be horrid towards you, and you're required to work for the victim's family as a slave. The mask eventually shrivels up and dies, falling off of your face, which is believed to mean the spirit of the murdered person is choosing to free you, whether out of forgiveness, pity, desire to move onto the afterlife, or believing the you've done enough for their family. This usually takes between five and eight years. Anyway, Berdu dad's idea of what counts as murder was a bit cringe. Berdu's mama died birthing him, so Berdu's dad put the mask on baby Berdu. The mask attached to Berdu seems to have been a mutant one, and still hasn't come off 23 years later. Berdu thinks that means his mama, not just his pop, blames him for her death, and still hasn't forgiven him, at least until another character pulls a talk no jutsu by suggesting she actually just doesn't wanna leave him, and didn't wanna miss out on a front-row seat to seeing his childhood and journey in life. Anyway he glues pretty flowers to the skull part of the mask using tree resin. He's not good at painting it, given he's not an artist and it's attached to his face, but he lets another character do that once he trusts them.

[@stripedpolkadots8692]

that is so (bitter)sweet and such an awesome and creative idea, thank you for sharing! Also Berdu's dad is cringe!

[@jimothyworldbuilding3664]

@@stripedpolkadots8692 can't argue with that. I'm very tempted to spoil his involvement in the story, cos there's more to masks in the setting than there being a place where they're a punishment. In Lamara, another land, wearing masks is illegal. Except in professional contexts, for example a blacksmith would be allowed to wear one to protect their face. It can be punishable by death. Lying about your name or what tribe you're part of, even in passing, can also be punishable by death.

[@ponderous_tomes]

it's amazing how much a seemingly small detail can make such a huge difference :) they all look so unique and pretty now, you did a great job !!

[@AnkhAnanku]

Love the little backstory to your cast of models. While Arasida and Ashur-Annat might be implied to be cousins, I like to imagine faking your death is just kinda popular rn. Also, Lillu 💅😏. Didn’t realize they were a man until 6:20

[@gwenpendragon316]

absolutely fantastic as usual, the face & body paint designs in particular are gorgeous

[@LifVixen]

I know I'm a bit late, but I wanted to say that your videos are huge sources of inspiration for my own worldbuilding. This one is probably my favourite of yours though. Even though it was only a general overview, you already managed to make them look unique, like their own culture!

[@XYZ_3648]

How does she do that? Someone can explain me where did she getted the will and inspiration for doing that a deep and beautyfull worldbuilding?

[@incanusolorin2607]

I havent even watched it yet, but I'm always excited by your videos! Your creativity never ceases to amaze me

[@spoonstruck]

This is so beautiful and inspiring. I want to go through all my worldbuilding regions and work out which patterns and materials and dyes and styles and accessories work for them 🤩

[@fuzzytheduck]

AHHH fashion worldbuilding my favorite thing!!

[@Thorunge]

Quite enamored by a few of your videos so far. You've got yourself a new subscriber ;). Just wanted to point out that historically, pleats and other displays of 'extra fabric' were usually a sign of wealth. I'll likely need to (and will) watch more videos to become better aquianted with your characters to know if it makes sense, but just wanted to point this out.

[@binchamers]

Lovely video!!! I love the styles! The sandals look awesome!

[@BeneathTheBrightSky]

6:44 literally my exact design for a culture I'm working on right now lol.

[@Celadon_wasp]

I've been losing my mind at the descriptions of each person, they have so much personality

[@hedgehogfamily6775]

Oh my goddess!!! a new video🎉🎉

[@cloudGremlin]

Clothing time!

[@MCArt25]

I really love these designs.

[@TheMartyrdoom]

If you're creating a fantasy subrace with red or blonde hair, and blue or green eyes, it's important to provide an explanation for how these traits came about. Historically, these hair and eye colours are the result of genetic mutations that were originally localised to specific regions before spreading out. Just as you would respect cultural traditions when world-building, it's equally important to consider and honour the origins of physical traits like hair colour, hair type and eye colour.

[@artasinjennifer]

your channel is so interesting ❤, how did u start worldbuilding? i want to get into it too

[@fuzzytheduck]

I have a question about elush society. Does social class exist in the same way it does/did in real world cultures, is there such a thing as "the idle rich"? Are there high ranking politicians who require security? If so, considering it's considered improper to enter a house that isn't yours, how do guards and servants do their jobs?

[@Lycaon1765]

I love seeing people come up with dress for their made up cultures. It's so fun :)

[@gingivitis9148]

Ahhh that time in the world building process when you break out the research papers and all those hours of research will never amount to asking a person from that culture "how this?!".

[@jaymarie8065]

gorgeous art

[@pqpodeioojhin7531]

Obrigado

[@forodinssake9570]

I don't think we have analogues to different European cultures? It's usually just medieval England, western Europe

[@valkeakirahvi]

Looks really good! I should practise drawing clothes more, because I'm also somewhat stuck in the same generic greco-roman style, even though I have ideas of what I'd actually like them to wear...

[@Demonskunk]

I really like this.

[@drpigglesnuudelworte5209]

Do you have any advice for someone who’s desperately uncreative with symbols and clothing designs

[@БранимирНиколов-ж7ф]

This is good. Good stuff.

[@wittykittywoes]

how lovely!

[@forkstaf1918]

I NEEDED THIS

[@Her-sf3kj]

how do I do this if I can't draw

[@NakariSpeardane]

Draw anyway!

[@Zee-iv9oe]

i love thisssss

[@romesmith]

“the elush associate young men with flowers” is super interesting, will you be doing a video on gender in elush?

[@AnkhAnanku]

Ya, it seems a bit… different

[@MCArt25]

@@AnkhAnanku nothing manlier than a pretty flower

[@AnkhAnanku]

@@MCArt25 currently developing a list of the most manly flowers. Sunflowers definitely top my list. I can’t decide if roses are super masc or super femme tho…

[@alphasword5541]

Everyone should read Edward Said's Orientalism in regards to appropriation

[@טמוציןבורגיגין]

There’s nothing morally wrong with copying real world cultures or elements in worldbuilding, it’s just a bit uncreative and lazy. Anyway, very beautiful!

[@lillydevil2486]

It's only cultural appropriation is you copy and paste entire cultures or if you take cultural aspects for superficial, disrespectful reasons. You seem to hold a lot of love for history and cultures, so feel free to find your inspirations anywhere. Cultures were made to bleed together, afterall.

[@mileseximius]

This video has made me realize just how much caring about cultural appropriation kills creativity, or at least the fear of accusation of cultural appropriation risks killing it. An eighth of a video was dedicated to what could've been one sentence: "I like drawing from multiple cultures with focus on understanding those cultures so it's not slapped together like kitchen sink or fantasy hat cultures in other work." Even that's probably too long and too rambly for a fairly simple point. Point is, that was a lot of time for something that didn't need the time. It's alien to me, the idea of needing to give time to something (lazy world building bad) so self-evident, a given when one looks at the series! Have people complained about this before or something? You're a world builder and invest a lot of work and research into doing so, I just don't get why there'd need to be a full disclaimer for "I'm using these cultures." Why not just be free to take a motif and use it as it came from that culture or recontextualize it, just how real people for millennia borrowed ideas and symbols and repurposed them for their purposes, often resulting in unique and fascinating ideas. Imaging the Bible without the Flood ( likely from Stone Age SE Asia), imagine Greek myth without Charon or Cerberus (both likely from Stone Age northern Steppe cultures), imagine most (if not all) cultures without dragons (likely from sub-Saharan Africa)! One might accuse borrowing symbols and reinterpreting them for your own use as "cultural appropriation" since you don't have the right magic DNA sequence to pretend it's yours, but without it, most of our cultural motifs wouldn't even exist! It bothers me because it seems fear of offending is the central issue as opposed to just not wanting to have a half-assed product. I look at many larger settings, such as the Forgotten Realms or Golarion or the universe of Star Wars and Star Trek. People seem fine with where they're blatantly lazy in world building, just so long as that laziness isn't offensive to a hypothetical someone's sensibilities. I look at smaller projects, and often I either see the same, or apologies offered for "stealing" from a culture followed by santization, or long diatribes explaining that you did research but in far too many words to placate someone who either doesn't exist or doesn't want to be placated. I love cultures, modern and ancient, I love treating cultures with respect, I love studying them due to my own fascination with them, but it always seems like people want to set taboos on creativity, handicapping it for the sake of people's sensibilities. Your work is still incredibly brilliant and creative, but I can't help but wonder what could be if people just let creativity run free. And so I put more thought into an intro I found boring than I should've and leave it for others to read and dislike. Have a good one! I remain enamored by your pottery world building!

[@naolucillerandom5280]

Equally a shock to me at first. There are situations where the disrespect is legit, but in others it just seems like people being overly agressive towards people touching the "exotic others with REAL cultures" with their dirty hands full of european DNA. Which is quite worrying I would say.

[@wittykittywoes]

their video, if they think explaining how they view creativity and respect adds to the video, they’ll add it. I personally didn’t care but its neat to see someones process and perspective like that.

[@naolucillerandom5280]

​@@wittykittywoes yeah, it's always cool to hear the full creative process of someone

[@djungelskog132]

Whoaaa

[@AnkhAnanku]

Cultural appropriation/appreciation/amalgamation/representation is such a difficult issue, particularly for xenophiles

[@MarceloResegue]

I actually stopped watching the video because of the "apology". Can't people understand how offensive and condescending it sounds? It's probably the epitome of US arrogance to believe they need to protect other cultures from being misused be themselves. Please stop this!

[@gingersummer4005]

Idk if you’re talking about Nakari herself, but if you are I’m pretty sure she said she’s Anglo, so not necessarily from the US. And, people do get worryingly defensive over cultural appropriation, but Nakari seems to mostly have been explaining how she goes about borrowing from other cultures and why.