bridge7 Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 Say something if I'm just stupid, but I never noticed that literally everyone on roshar was slightly Asian (eyes) and that shin were white people until I read this- Questioner I know you went on mission in Korea, as did I, did anything come from that? Brandon Sanderson Yeah...(this is a break, not him pausing in speech) I don't know if you've read The Way of Kings… I don't know if you know but everyone's Asian, right? Like Szeth, the white dude, is the one that looks weird them. And that's just because-- It was partially influenced by that. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frustration Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 You aren't stupid I didn't notice at first either, it's not very obvious. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 I reflexively pictured the Alethi as white at first, and the Shin more Asian... that has sense been corrected. It's fairly normal, I think. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frustration Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 who else pictured shin with absolutly enormous eyes that don't make any sense? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghanderflaffle Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 I feel like it's common for people to picture a main people in a book to look like themselves. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AonEne Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 Moved to Stormlight, Gen Brandon isn't really the right place 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaellok Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 1 hour ago, bridge7 said: Say something if I'm just stupid, but I never noticed that literally everyone on roshar was slightly Asian (eyes) and that shin were white people until I read this- Questioner I know you went on mission in Korea, as did I, did anything come from that? Brandon Sanderson Yeah...(this is a break, not him pausing in speech) I don't know if you've read The Way of Kings… I don't know if you know but everyone's Asian, right? Like Szeth, the white dude, is the one that looks weird them. And that's just because-- It was partially influenced by that. Not stupid at all! It's definitely not something that's super-obvious. And there's not a lot of obvious ways to clue readers in to that without coming across as potentially problematic, or not genuine to the characters in the story. Eye color means a great deal to Alethkar and Jah Keved, so that's one of the first things that they look at and look for. And to them, their eyes are normal, what they see all the time; that's why they call out the Shin for having a different shape. So it's left pretty much entirely up to the reader to understand that the Shin are different, what that difference is, and what that being different means for the looks others. Because of the subtlety of the description it becomes very easy for a certain image to be locked in place in the reader's mind before they ever figure it out. So on the one hand I'm like, 'wow, that's an awesome way to combine description and world-building in a very true to the story manner that rewards the reader when they solve the puzzle' but on the other I'm like 'I didn't even know there was a puzzle'. 32 minutes ago, Ghanderflaffle said: I feel like it's common for people to picture a main people in a book to look like themselves. I hope that this is common, but I'm intensely self-centered and this is one of those assumptions I don't feel safe to make. I do know that there have been some people that I follow for writing advice that say that it's important to hit the reader early and then look for excuses to reinforce the differences when including a diverse cast (and also some good suggestions on how to do so in ways that aren't demeaning, objectifying, or making it seem like their only purpose is to check a box off a list). I'm not sure if keeping the cool puzzle is worth readers like me not realizing that the main cast looks fairly different than me (see: self-centered). Also not sure how to cause the description without it seeming completely out of place for the character and the scene. There some potential for it to happen in the prologue of WoK, with Szeth, but the nature of what follows could easily make for that being quite problematic. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight of Iron Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 (edited) 50 minutes ago, Ghanderflaffle said: I feel like it's common for people to picture a main people in a book to look like themselves. Agreed, it’s human nature for our imaginations to default in our own mind to somewhat similar to ourselves. I assumed they were white until I learned otherwise, then I preferred to think of them as Asian. An example of this in real life is if you go to a Christian church in Africa, you will find their depictions of Jesus are of him as a black man, while in America he is depicted as a white man, when in reality he was neither. I think that’s okay to do to an extent, and I think Brandon would agree as he’s stated especially with pronunciations that they are pronounced however you pronounce them. The characters are yours in your mind, in other words. Edited November 5, 2020 by Knight of Iron 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight of Iron Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 5 minutes ago, kaellok said: I hope that this is common, but I'm intensely self-centered and this is one of those assumptions I don't feel safe to make. I agree with what you are saying, though for me I feel I never assume someone’s race rather than subconsciously forming their image in my head. It’s not something I pay extremely close attention to, and so everything reverts to default. heck, my brain doesn’t even try sometimes with some of these descriptive words. I see comments on fanart and stuff commenting on descriptive inaccuracies of how they imagine them differently, while in my mind they’ve looked for the most part like a freakin blank slate lol. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridge7 Posted November 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 (edited) Same as @Matrim's DiceAnd for some reason I always thought of shin as being more Asian, I think I just saw stuff about the eyes and "child like stature"(alethi are tall) and thought Asian, which is weird because I am half asian. Stereotypes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And i totally agree with @Ghanderflaffle because I look white Edited November 5, 2020 by bridge7 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghanderflaffle Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 11 minutes ago, bridge7 said: Same as @Matrim's DiceAnd for some reason I always thought of shin as being more Asian, I think I just saw stuff about the eyes and "child like stature"(alethi are tall) and thought Asian, which is weird because I am half asian. Stereotypes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And i totally agree with @Ghanderflaffle because I look white Well I am white, so I would hope I look white. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Harrycrapper Posted November 5, 2020 Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 2 hours ago, Frustration said: who else pictured shin with absolutly enormous eyes that don't make any sense? Yea, I thought of the Shin's eyes looking like Alita in the live action movie; real life Japanese style anime eyes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridge7 Posted November 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2020 12 minutes ago, Ghanderflaffle said: Well I am white, so I would hope I look white. Hopefully 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eternal Khol Posted November 6, 2020 Report Share Posted November 6, 2020 4 hours ago, Frustration said: who else pictured shin with absolutly enormous eyes that don't make any sense? Reading this brought back some memories to when i was first reading the SA XD 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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