Im not trying to be aggressive or offend someone! I know itās hard to write about other cultures and many people donāt do it on purpose
I will add more stuff to the list as well!
Hello, Iām a native Russian speaker with a whole Russian family. I saw so many Russian characters in episode stories andā¦ every time i read I cringe so hard. Many stories make us look (I know itās not intentional) like we are from 90ās or are mafias. U can always hear Russian accent, or say Russian words in English for example Babushka and so on. And we aināt doing that when we talk on another language.
Im not saying itās bad, but it is a bit weird to see ātypical stereo typeā Russian.
Soooo what should u know about us Russians?
Not every Russian is a vodka and high alcohol lover. If u are Russian it doesnāt mean u can non stop drink alcohol
Some have a nice fluent English accent. It doesnāt always have to be a strong R when we speak English
Not everyone curses (Blat, cka) in every sentence or for fun. U can for sure add it! 100% in situations where Russian character is in shock and I mean real shock cause most of us Russians are saying it when we are shocked or something unexpected fast happens
If you write about Russian character DONT forget to add Russian food! And NO I donāt mean Borsh or Pelmeni! Im talking about what every Russian loves! For example: Sweet corn puffs (ŠŗŃŠŗŃŃŃŠ·Š½ŃŠµ ŠæŠ°Š»Š¾ŃŠŗŠø), ice cream which is called Plombir (ŠŠ»Š¾Š¼Š±ŠøŃ) or Eskimo on a stick (ŠµŃŠŗŠøŠ¼Š¾ Š½Š° ŠæŠ°Š»Š¾ŃŠŗŠµ), one of the best salads-> Olivie (ŠŠ»ŠøŠ²ŃŠµ)
Stop using typical Russian names, like: Tatyana, Irina, Ana, Olga, Katya, Sveta, Vladimir, Nikita, Dima. Try using something what is Russian but not a common name ā
Females: Vera, Nastya, Valeriya, Emma, Vasilisa
Males: Pasha, Lesha, Gleb, Yarik, Kolya
U can always google!
5.1 Besides a name and surname we have so called patronymic. Like: Valeriya Belokon (name and surname) but also Valerievna. And BOY u will be on point if u add patronymic to ur character introduction!
Whatās patronymic? Itās a surname that comes from the father to the child. U can look for more examples on the Internet!
Stop coloring us in blonde colors! We aināt blond! Fun FACT most Russians have fair color or dark one. Same goes with eyes! Green/grey/brown/dark brown is standard! Blonde and blue eyes is representation of āperfect Germansā during world war 2 so itās a common mistake to portrait us like this
Outfits: u for sure can add jogger stripped pants to But not as a default look pls. We wear it soooo rarely and mostly not striped. Russian males and females are over this trend but we still like to wear it sometimes cause itās comfy. If you want to make a funny Russian outfit, try adding some socks to the slippers, we like to wear it outside the city working on the backyard
Cities: Not everyone is from Moskau or St. Petersburg. Try using other cities as well! Just Google for big cities in Russia if needed
I hope it helps someone! Again, donāt mean it to be aggressive. And if someone has questions how to make a Russian character better, always feel free to ask!
I 100% agree with you. As a German with Russian roots, I hate how Russians or Slavic people in general are potrayed in the media. They are always shown as the bad guys, gold diggers, misogynistic, dumb and alcoholic.
Itās ridiculous that people assume that everyone whoās from East Europe is Polish or Russian. It seems like that other ethnicities, such as Ukrainian, Belarusian, Moldavian, Georgian etc., doesnāt exist.
Can be a russian as well! Just needs a Russian name and Surname. We russians do like our nationality and show it. Not in a dumb way or having an accent
Honestly, you can pretty much give her whatever appearance you want to and still be able to class her as Russian. There is no set appearance of what a Russian person looks like, some have blue eyes, some have dark eyes, some have brown hair, some have black hair etc etc, but if you wanted to delve deeply into ethnics, there are regions which have a general genetic look.
I also have a lead with red hair + green eyes and heās a Russian boy through and through. You donāt have to worry about the red hair and green eyes at all. (:
Whatās more important is how you want her to be portrayed ā has she lived in another country for many years? Are her family members ethnic Russians? Does she have a strong accent or not? Does she possess Russian values and culture? Was she born in Russia? Was she raised in Russia? Which part of Russia is she from? Is she religious? Is she an Orthodox Christian? There are many things you need to pick and choose for your character in order to be able to write her well and accurately.
Hi, I plan to write a story based in the 90ās of Russia, just following the fall of the URSS, do you happen to know any good history book about this time period? Thanks you so much anyway
Donāt know any books.
BUT
1.
In Russia that time people started building ādormsā where each family had to share one flat with others and 1 shower and toilet for the whole house.
2.
Also, back then older people didnāt buy many things for their children, not cause of the money difficulties but it was somehow a āruleā. Older generation never bought their kids everything saying āwe as kids didnāt had this, so you donāt need thisā
3.
People started moving from towns in big towns like Moskau. Cause every where were villages or super small cities with about 1- 20k population. Moskau was very crowded and Hard to get a job there.
4.
How sadly it sounds itās also a time where MANY serial killers started to appear in Russia. U can take (if needed of course) as an example famous and last one who was sentenced to death in Russia was āChikatiloā.
5.
And sadly itās the time where Russia firstly started getting drugs from other countries. The drug is called āwhite Chineseā
6.
It was an āeraā where in Russia people first started trusting drivers, basically started going in cars with strangers for a super cheap price or even free. Most times it was safe but since it were strangers seeking for āclientsā on the roads, that also led to many horrible killers.
Hope it helps a bit overall times back then werenāt nice and scary+rough
Patronymic is the middle name that is based on their fatherās first name.
According to Merriam Webster: A patronymic, is generally formed by adding a prefix or suffix to a name. [ā¦] In Russia, both a patronymic and a surname are still used; in the name Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, for example, Ilyich is a patronymic meaning āson of Ilyaā.
In Russia we have a āsecond nameā that stays behind the surname. This second name always comes from father side, how the father is called.
For example me:
Valeriya Belokon Valeirvna. My fathers name is Valeriy thatās why I get Valeirvna.
Another example:
Sascha Berezin Petrovich. His fathers name is Petrov.
Hope now it makes more sense. This second name is really complicated for foreign people
Itās super hard with endings tbh. I donāt know the rule I just know it cause Iām Russian itās always different for the girl and boy. Mostly boys get ich at the end and girls a or like in my case na.
Blonde and blue eyes is representation of āperfect Germansā during world war 2 so itās a common mistake to portrait us like this 
But not as a default look pls. We wear it soooo rarely and mostly not striped. Russian males and females are over this trend but we still like to wear it sometimes cause itās comfy.
If you want to make a funny Russian outfit, try adding some socks to the slippers, we like to wear it outside the city working on the backyard 
overall times back then werenāt nice and scary+rough
