ysabetwordsmith: (paladins)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Check it out!  [livejournal.com profile] meeksp made me this lovely icon for my poetic series Path of the Paladins.  Here are Shahana the Paladin and her novice, Ari.  You can read about their adventures on my Serial Poetry page. 

[livejournal.com profile] meeksp does regular drawings to pick blog commenters who receive a free icon.  You can also see more of her art on her Mikaspace site.

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Date: 2011-12-01 01:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] westrider.livejournal.com
Huh. For some reason, I always pictured Shahana and Ari as being darker, like from somewhere around the Mediterranean, Greece perhaps.

Not sure where that impression came from, or even whether or not there were any physical descriptions given.

It's a nice picture, don't get me wrong, that just threw me for a second :)

Hmm...

Date: 2011-12-01 01:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com
I've always pictured them as sort of light-colored European. One of the reference images for Shahana was a Russian peasant girl.

Maybe you were getting carryover from Fiorenza, who is Italian?

Re: Hmm...

Date: 2011-12-01 01:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] westrider.livejournal.com
It's entirely possible. Like I said, I can't think of any actual descriptions of them off the top of my head.

Another possible influence: I think I was re-reading the Vatta's War series when I got introduced to your poetry, and most of the main characters in that are of Greek descent. At least as far as I can tell. Moon didn't really make a big deal about it, but many of the names fit, and there are several points that make it clear that almost none of them are white.

Of course, the series is set far enough in the future that Terrestrial races are probably meaningless points of reference, but that was the general impression I got of most of their appearances.

Also just realized that I don't have a single Icon with a non-white human in it. I should fix that.

Re: Hmm...

Date: 2011-12-01 02:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com
>>Moon didn't really make a big deal about it, but many of the names fit, and there are several points that make it clear that almost none of them are white.<<

I've done stories where none of the characters were white. And from the freaked-out reaction I once got in a Carl Brandon Society party, it seems to be expected that such stories will be "about" race. Mine aren't; they just happen to be set in some places where there are few or no fair-skinned people. Everyone else was naming one or two stories off the top of their heads as the No Whites stuff they'd done. I had to run through my mental list of characters and stories, "looking" at all of them, because I hadn't used skin color as a sorting field in my mental database. Human Pass/Fail = Fail. But it was so worth it.

>> Also just realized that I don't have a single Icon with a non-white human in it. I should fix that.<<

So far, I have the Origami Mage (Asian-analog, golden skin) and Fiorenza (Italian, olive skin). Next time [livejournal.com profile] djinni does a Free Icon Day, I plan to request an icon of Maryam Smith, since that artist excels at steampunk. Then I'll have a black character too. Steamsmith, now -- that series is About Race. Nether-England is about to get a number of its prejudices stuffed into an alchemical furnace and cooked until done.

Re: Hmm...

Date: 2011-12-02 12:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] westrider.livejournal.com
One of the stories I've got fragments of, almost none of the characters are white. I figure after 38,000 years of people (on the whole) loosening up about this sort of thing, that's pretty much how things are going to be.

Another story cycle that I have some fragments for has about half the main cast non-white, with a mix of Black, Indian, east Asian, and Philipino. I strongly suspect at least a couple of Hispanic characters will show up there at some point, too, given the area it's set in.

---

Hmmm, need to start thinking about who I'd like as non-white people in my Icons. Most of the fandoms/worlds I'm into are overwhelmingly white, and I want it to be people who I'm genuinely down with. Adding someone just because I want an Icon of colour kind of misses the point.

Maryam Smith would definitely be a contender, as would Thulsa Doom. Maybe branch out into music, see if I can find a picture of Derrick Green to make into an Icon.

Re: Hmm...

Date: 2011-12-02 03:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com
>>One of the stories I've got fragments of, almost none of the characters are white. I figure after 38,000 years of people (on the whole) loosening up about this sort of thing, that's pretty much how things are going to be.<<

Yes, populations tend to even out differences over time -- as long as they stay together. If they diverge, for instance across multiple planets, then new distinctions may emerge and stabilize within a given population.

>>Hmmm, need to start thinking about who I'd like as non-white people in my Icons. Most of the fandoms/worlds I'm into are overwhelmingly white, and I want it to be people who I'm genuinely down with. Adding someone just because I want an Icon of colour kind of misses the point.<<

Well, you're all over my Schrodinger's Heroes team. Out of the main characters: Bailey is mixed-race, Pat is black, Morgan is Hawai'ian-Japanese-American, and Kay is Hispanic. I may see about getting artwork of them eventually.

>>Maryam Smith would definitely be a contender, as would Thulsa Doom. Maybe branch out into music, see if I can find a picture of Derrick Green to make into an Icon.<<

When I get an icon of Maryam, I will gladly share her. More chromatic icons would be good for the Internet. I also like [livejournal.com profile] marina_bonomi's idea of using the steamsmith emblem as a symbol of chromatic steampunk!

Re: Hmm...

Date: 2011-12-02 04:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] westrider.livejournal.com
I'm not sure how much of my love for the Schrodinger's Heroes group is just because I'm a total cat person, though ;)

I should read some more of the fanfics, see how I like them as humans.

I would definitely love the use of a Maryam icon once you get one, though. Would probably end up replacing most of the times I use the pic of me with the goggles on.

Re: Hmm...

Date: 2011-12-02 04:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com
>> I'm not sure how much of my love for the Schrodinger's Heroes group is just because I'm a total cat person, though <<

Well, so are they, really: people belonging to a cat, riding his luck, and functioning within the aura of his hero-light. There is much in the series that has a feline flavor, especially the humor. Some of it is LOLCATS type humor. Some is more like the sly, quiet smirk of a cat watching with slitted eyes as you insert your foot into a slipper that contains half of a mouse.

>>I should read some more of the fanfics, see how I like them as humans.<<

I think you would enjoy that. (*grin* You may also get a kick out of a practice project that I have almost done, which I plan to share.) So far I've done several stories and poems that are straight-up Schrodinger's Heroes. I've also done crossovers with Dr. Who, Anita Blake, and Space Odyssey; so if you like any of those series, it's a good piece of common ground to explore.

>>I would definitely love the use of a Maryam icon once you get one, though. Would probably end up replacing most of the times I use the pic of me with the goggles on.<<

Cool!

Re: Hmm...

Date: 2011-12-02 04:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] westrider.livejournal.com
I may have some time this weekend to dig into some of those when I'm not baking cookies. IF not, some will come up soon, I'm sure.

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