How characters are described vs how the appear in your head.

[lioness]

I somehow could never picture Kaladin with a beard. Even though the book showed him not using Rocks razor or shaving until later.

[Jruesch2 he/him]

On 10/17/2018 at 9:16 PM, RShara said:

One very common misvisualization is that the Alethi are Caucasian, when they are actually very dark skinned, with epicanthic folds, and are closest to a Arabic/Asian/Indian mix. I personally have a hard time visualizing people, so I pay really close attention to descriptions

I would also say a common misvisualization is that the Herdazians are Caucasian. From the description in the books, they would look like Latinos, but in the audiobooks, Lopen is read with an Australian accent. I can't argue with that, because Brandon loves how the books are read. Personally, though, when I read the books, I always imagine Herdazians with a Mexican accent like Luis from Ant-man.

[Philomath she/her]

Okay here’s a new one for me. I was just reading the coppermind article on Lopen and it said he was in his twenties. *mind blown* I don’t know how I missed that. I honestly pictured him as older. I basically thought he was like the one armed Latino version on either the pirate with no tongue from the first Pirates of the Caribbean or the “boo box” pirate from Hook. I have no idea why I thought of him that way, that’s just the way he appeared. 

[Dunkum he/him]

2 hours ago, Philomath said:

Okay here’s a new one for me. I was just reading the coppermind article on Lopen and it said he was in his twenties. *mind blown* I don’t know how I missed that. I honestly pictured him as older. I basically thought he was like the one armed Latino version on either the pirate with no tongue from the first Pirates of the Caribbean or the “boo box” pirate from Hook. I have no idea why I thought of him that way, that’s just the way he appeared. 

I don't know that I thought he was old....but probably i'd have guessed thirties or forties.

[Necessary Eagle she/her]

I never noticed the first time around that Kelsier is blond. Or the second time. In fact, I think I didn't realize it until I looked closely at the illustrations in AU. In any case, in my head he's got dark hair.

Renarin has entirely black hair, that's just common sense. At best I can picture tiny wisps of blond.

For the longest time, my mental image of Nale was... well, like Szeth, really. White skin and a hood. When I'd come across one of the many, many passages that described him as really dark with a crescent-shaped birthmark, his picture would shift back to canon- and then revert as soon as my mind focused on the next bit. I never even noticed the conflict- if you asked me what he looked like, I would have said "Dark skin and birthmark, it's right in the text"- until I had a dream about him, and then was remembering the dream later.

[cantabile21]

Another one here who saw Szeth as Oriental... it's the name for the ethnicity that threw me. 

And i know Adolin is supposed to have messy blond hair like a mop, but i've always imagined it as shoulder-length at least and neatly swept back. Like Legolas. In fact, i suddenly realised that my mental picture of Adolin has always looked like a blockier version of Legolas, complete with the fair skin. i rationalise it with my mental image with Evi, whom i've always seen as blonde and fair-skinned as well. If he could inherit his mother's hair, he could surely inherit her skin tone too. 

Dalinar i've always seen as Russell Crowe in Gladiator. Yes with the beard. i know he likes to shave in the morning, but i just can't see him as clean-shaven. Nope. 

Elend, on the other hand, i could never picture with a proper beard. Stubbly, maybe, but not with a full brown beard. And in my mind, Kelsier has brown hair too. 

Still on the subject of hair, i see Susebron as blond, though i know he's supposed to have black hair. i guess the blond hair came with the innocent wide eyes i gave him. 

 

 

 

[Embrisk he/him]

When I had inquisitors first described to me, I imagined people impaled by 7-10 five foot long spikes.

I also didn't imagine Kaladin with dark skin, just dark eyes.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Ookla the Servillius