Random Object Show Stuff

Regarding Baoding Balls

There's currently some discussion going on on Tumblr about how Candle and Yin-Yang present some forms of cultural appropriation, and it's made me think more about my own characters. (I'm not calling it discourse because I don't think it's gotten to that point yet)

Of course, whenever I make characters, I try my hardest to avoid stereotypes and make them appropriate, but it's entirely possible that I've accidentally given characters problematic traits without meaning to or having that be the intent.

The character I'm specifically concerned about right now is Baoding Balls, one of my object OCs. They are a box containing metal Baoding balls, which are used in China to build dexterity and relieve stress. Ae was based on a real-life box of Baoding balls that I own. Ze has a very mellow disposition and a rather poetic outlook on existence, but ze is also quite an oddball by most people's standards.

While none of my characters have races outside of their object species, I do consider Baoding Balls to be somewhat Chinese-coded (as in it's part of his identity, not as a major part of his character as a whole.) If I have done elements of this poorly, I want to change them immediately.

Here are some elements of spirits character to consider:

-Ze speaks both English and Chinese. Spirit speaks English most of the time as most of my OCs are English speakers, but spirit does speak Chinese on occasion. He speaks both languages separately and does not randomly incorporate Chinese words into his language (excluding words with no direct English translation.) They use the nickname "Xīn Yè", meaning "Heart Leaf/Leaves", for another OC, Shamrock. (I got that from Google Translate, so that may not be a 100% accurate translation.)

-Most of the time, ae speaks in a way that is understandable, but sometimes ae'll give advice that is phrased in a very weird way and doesn't make much sense at face value. It's not Engrish, it adheres to English grammar laws for the most part, it's just kind of odd. I did this element of spirits character to accentuate spirits oddness and give spirit some resemblance to Homsar, but I've realized that could be misconstrued as spirit having a poor grasp on the English language due to not being of "Western" decent, which was not at all my intention.

-Not a Buddhist, but believes in reincarnation, although that's pretty much the only expressly religious belief he has that relates to Buddhism. They don't believe in Nirvana or anything of that sort. Ze also believes in undead spirits who were unable to reincarnate roaming the living realm. I'm not sure if that pertains to any specific religion or not, since I kind of just took the whole "unfinished business" thing and added the element of reincarnation to it.

-This isn't related to the Chinese stuff, but I'm curious if aer use of spirit/spirits neopronouns counts as some kind of appropriation of beliefs, kind of like the whole genderfae and fae/faer pronouns controversy. If you consider the use of those pronouns inappropriate, please let me know.

I would appreciate input from people who are of Chinese descent, since it's their place to decide these things, but anyone advising me on this would be helpful. (Of course I'm not gonna demand you tell me your racial identity, that would be rude as hell lmao-)

Thank you in advance!