I finally hit the 25k mark.
So I wrote roughly 3000 words since the time I got up (yesterday) around 12ish. I really don't count the days, I count what I call my "writing sessions". Typically my best writing sessions are from 10pm to 4am the next day. Sucks for me and my sleep, but very true.
So in my "writing session" so far, I wrote 3000 words, which brought my count up to 25130. I am very proud of this number.
It means I'm only, oh, 4870 words behind...
Again...
But Garnet's chapter is going well. I decided not to name his master at all since Garnet doesn't like him anyway and he's not an important character. Also, by master, I mean master and apprentice, not master and slave like Kah and the Falgarith. It confuses me too sometimes... I did name one character. A new one. Her name is Nee. She's thirteen years old and she wants to be an adventurer. She will have a POV chapter, erm, later...
She and Garnet get along very well. At first I saw her as this Luna Lovegood type person, but she's developed into something more like Toph but with less out-there attitude.
As part of keeping the diversity thing going, I'm focusing more on the physical diversities. And not just noticeable ones.
For example:
Kah has massive scarring all over the left of his face
Hessir is fat
Nee is called "bug-eyed" for her really big eyes
But I also decided to throw in some differences that aren't so terribly obvious. One character (not sure on the name) is going to have TB. Cloud is very nearsighted. And so on...
I like keeping things mixed up. But I think there needs to be more than just the typical racial difference in skin color. And people can have noticeable, physical differences that are not amputated limbs, scars, and eyepatches. Like seriously, I don't think I ever read a fantasy novel where a character was nearsighted. (I'm talking FANTASY fantasy, not Harry Potter or whatnot)
Another thing I find, is that it is NOT racist to point out how people view other races. A black man is a black man. An Asian man with squinted eyes is an Asian man with squinted eyes. A short Mexican is a short Mexican. It's racism when someone is called out on their actions, mannerisms, flaws (anything demeaning) by insulting their race. For example: "Haha! He doesn't speak English! Chingchong ling long ting tong!" Or if one man makes a slip up, and the response is "You blacks are so stupid." That is totally racism right there, and it's stupid and needs to stop.
But if I decide to make black character and I call him black, that should not be seen as racism. He's freaking black, people!
I've seen it happen before, and it makes me mad. I think people need to look up the definition of racism and then take a scenario-based test on when to accurately use that word...
An interesting point on racial diversity: why are all fantasy gods, like, white people? If the only people in existence in the world are just white people, sure yah, that's fine, I guess. But I mean, the Norse gods worshipped Hel who was half black and half white. So for all the fantasy religions, some mix should be in there.
Also, why are Middle Eastern / African races always depicted as these nomadic, barbaric tribes? I get that the real world has seen a bit of that in the past (especially for middle-of-nowhere Africa), but fantasy is free game to everyone.
And why are Asian races never portrayed diversely in fantasy? I used to think Asia was this pacifist country where people all wore robes and had a billion gardens and it was eternal spring/summer. It was not till anime and in depth research that I learned it was NOT. But every fantasy story seems content with keeping Asians as this mystical, spiritual people locked in a Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe land (but only they are cursed with never winter AND never Christmas too).
Did you know that it snows in Japan? Did you know that the Mongols are Asians? And the Russians? Did you know that samurai were actually archery masters on horseback that only used swords as a last resort? Did you know women wore pants because they worked in the fields and dresses would be stupid for such work? Did you know that not all of them know kung fu from birth or can transform into Supah Saiyans? (seriously, who knew that last one...?)
And why do fantasy authors always make the white race superior? Seriously, all the elves, dwarves, giants, witches, wizards... everyone, is white. Unless they are nomads. Then maybe they will be some kind of Native American or Middle Eastern type people.
We still base everything in fantasy off of white race supremacy ideals. You should know the story: the whites found land and conquered the poopies out of it in the hopes of "bringing civilization to the savage". Well, news flash: this was a real world thing based on the Darwin ideals that white was the highest form of evolution in man deeming all other races inferior to it.
But in fantasy, Darwin does not exist. Therefore, the white man should not think himself superior to the Latino. He should be on pretty equal terms when it comes to race.
NOW: conflict/racism CAN and PROBABLY will arise in your fantasy, but give it a reason. Otherwise, there should be a mix of races around that all respect each other or don't based on actions of individual groups of them rather than the race as a whole. Granted, your sheltered white character who meets a black man for the first time will find them bizarre and possibly terrifying, but they won't think themselves superior unless:
- they have preconceived notions based on what they have heard from other people
- the character judges so much on first impressions that he will allot any and all behaviors to his entire race
- they placed themselves on a pedestal then stuck this massive pole up their butts, aka, the a-hole character
So yah, mix it up a bit. Heck, make the main character in a fantasy be a black Prince in a kingdom full of black people, and their kingdom is pretty much a Camelot-esque/a-typical medieval kingdom.
There is no reason why Winterfell couldn't have been run by Inuits or the Greyjoy family be Asian or something to that effect. There is no reason why elves could not look like Asians but with pointed ears, or fairies look like they come from Bhutan. Magical and mystical stuff can be diverse too.
So, I went on a couple tangents, and I will probably flush out these different topics with well deserved, full-length posts sometime in the future, but for now, I'll just leave with that.
2:41
I was also going to talk about character viewpoints and keeping the continuity OUT of history and lore, but that will need to happen later...
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