Feedback wanted - Should I go ahead with this design?

[HufsaTheGreat96]

Hi guys!

I am working on my own region (that by now has been restructured and rewritten at least 4 times) and not too long ago came up with a cool idea for a regional Pawniard and Bisharp based on a keris, a type of ceremonial dagger from South-East Asia with interesting spiritual connections. Not only did it sound like the perfect fit for a Steel/Ghost-type when combined with the concept of a possessed suit of armor but it also happens to resemble a ghostly flame when cut in half on places like the helmet.

I was however recently informed via a video from Xiran Jao Zhao (more specifically one of her videos dissecting the culture of Raya and the Last Dragon) that the keris is a much bigger deal than I anticipated and now I am considering dropping the design entirely because I don't want to appropriate someone else's culture insensitively.

Enclosed are two of my concept-sketches. Should I go ahead? Change some things? Or drop them? Please leave feedback, especially those from South-East Asia who knows more about this topic than I do.

 

[Sunfished]

I think it ultimately depends on your views on intention and execution. in my opinion, your intention seems to be making a design off a cool looking sword, and you executed it in a way that doesnt seem to apropriate on it at all. i wouldnt worry about it at all.

if youre still worried, i do want to point out that a lot of videogames utilize the kris in some way already. some examples:

1. An artifact in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, and possibly others from the series.
2. The name of the protagonist in Deltarune, who is theorized to be related to a "sword" in the game's story.
3. A weapon within Demon's Souls, Elden Ring, and possibly others of the same developer.

These games are heavily centered around using weapons for combat, and having the kris being used as a weapon seems to align itself to you making a fakemon of one. of course, using the excuse of "others have done it too" isnt exactly a good one, but no one seems to have made a deal out of it so it seems fine, at least to me. its much different than say, jynx's old design which was much more stereotypically offensive to a culture, (gyaru culture in this case, but could also be misinterpreted as african american culture as well).