more than a year
Oct. 31st, 2007 11:33 pmWow...I just realised that the last time I posted was more than a year ago.
I've decided to make this my writing brood. Or brooding write...er..ing..thing.
A place to bounce ideas off the figurative brick wall, and hopefully break it down before it blocks me.
ANYHOO, stupid analogies aside.
For some bizarre reason, I've gotten a bit nerve-wracked about racial portrayal in Vivant's story. Vivant's white...the Isshateni were always meant to be white. Well, okay, it's because Arianna was always meant to be white. I don't want this to be read with any racial connotations. People are people, regardless of race.
Shela was set up ages ago for what she will do, and it had nothing to do with her skin colour. It's to do with her desperation to complete her quest and get to her dreams. Get what she deserves, in my opinion, but to do so she is ruthless and a little underhanded. Her being aggressive about what she believes in and what she wants to achieve has nothing to do with her race or her colour, but I'm worried that it will be misinterpreted that way, especially of her clashes with Vivant.
And the other thing, the Chuulinese. Well, fantasy's always been a genre starved of interesting coloured people. HP's Cho practically did nothing, although happily she wasn't stereotyped.
I've gone to great pains to put the Chuulinese back into the mentality of the ancient Orient. Obviously, I am the most familiar with Chinese mentality, so this is how it will come across. I've managed to name 2 important characters, and hopefully settled on them: 荀斌嫻 (Shun Hinkan), also known as 安武姬 (Anwu-ji), and 白舒矜 (Bai Shujin). The transliteration is a mix of Japanese and Chinese.
Because names mean things, and because I forget them, here is what they mean:
- Xun2 is a last name derived from descendents of the emperor.
- Bin1Xian2 is meant to be a classy sounding name that makes her sound like a princess and makes her well-treasured. She is well-educated because whoever named her valued education as part of good breeding, even in a girl, and so it explains her capability.
- An1wu3 is an un-subtle reference to her role as peacemaker. She won't always be a peacemaker, child that she is, but she sees it as her role.
- Shu1 means to extend, to reveal.
- Qin2 means a kind of spear and is the standard reading for his name, but the other reading, "jin1" has negative connotations of chaos.
The other thing I don't want to skirt on is sinocentricism. The Chinese are just as bad, if not worse, when it comes to cultural and racial superiority complexes. While it's not going to be a main feature of the stories, it will appear intermittently.
And I don't think I am very good at it, but I want to portray the complexity of Chinese thinking as well, the fore-planning, the lust for power, the disregard for human life, the ruthlessness that a country that hasn't had warfare simply can't measure up.
Yes, so the one truly "corrupted" person will be Chuulinese. Oh yes, Cheltis is still the reigning antagonist, but he's not interested in selfish gains...he just wants destruction.
I've decided to make this my writing brood. Or brooding write...er..ing..thing.
A place to bounce ideas off the figurative brick wall, and hopefully break it down before it blocks me.
ANYHOO, stupid analogies aside.
For some bizarre reason, I've gotten a bit nerve-wracked about racial portrayal in Vivant's story. Vivant's white...the Isshateni were always meant to be white. Well, okay, it's because Arianna was always meant to be white. I don't want this to be read with any racial connotations. People are people, regardless of race.
Shela was set up ages ago for what she will do, and it had nothing to do with her skin colour. It's to do with her desperation to complete her quest and get to her dreams. Get what she deserves, in my opinion, but to do so she is ruthless and a little underhanded. Her being aggressive about what she believes in and what she wants to achieve has nothing to do with her race or her colour, but I'm worried that it will be misinterpreted that way, especially of her clashes with Vivant.
And the other thing, the Chuulinese. Well, fantasy's always been a genre starved of interesting coloured people. HP's Cho practically did nothing, although happily she wasn't stereotyped.
I've gone to great pains to put the Chuulinese back into the mentality of the ancient Orient. Obviously, I am the most familiar with Chinese mentality, so this is how it will come across. I've managed to name 2 important characters, and hopefully settled on them: 荀斌嫻 (Shun Hinkan), also known as 安武姬 (Anwu-ji), and 白舒矜 (Bai Shujin). The transliteration is a mix of Japanese and Chinese.
Because names mean things, and because I forget them, here is what they mean:
- Xun2 is a last name derived from descendents of the emperor.
- Bin1Xian2 is meant to be a classy sounding name that makes her sound like a princess and makes her well-treasured. She is well-educated because whoever named her valued education as part of good breeding, even in a girl, and so it explains her capability.
- An1wu3 is an un-subtle reference to her role as peacemaker. She won't always be a peacemaker, child that she is, but she sees it as her role.
- Shu1 means to extend, to reveal.
- Qin2 means a kind of spear and is the standard reading for his name, but the other reading, "jin1" has negative connotations of chaos.
The other thing I don't want to skirt on is sinocentricism. The Chinese are just as bad, if not worse, when it comes to cultural and racial superiority complexes. While it's not going to be a main feature of the stories, it will appear intermittently.
And I don't think I am very good at it, but I want to portray the complexity of Chinese thinking as well, the fore-planning, the lust for power, the disregard for human life, the ruthlessness that a country that hasn't had warfare simply can't measure up.
Yes, so the one truly "corrupted" person will be Chuulinese. Oh yes, Cheltis is still the reigning antagonist, but he's not interested in selfish gains...he just wants destruction.
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