flemmings | (no subject)

Truly, you couldn't have better summer weather than this. 27C, dry, cool breeze, pleasant even in the warm sun. The day is not quite perfect-- the coffee machine is broken at the Vietnamese restaurant so no iced Vietnamese coffee for me; but I tried the serve-it-yourself frozen yoghurt place instead and over a tri-mix sundae read Point of Knives-- wherein Phillip declares himself to be a motherless man.

However, one thing about the Points series. Many Astreianters, including Nico, have Silk Lands blood, as indicated by their tight curly hair and what I must read as epicanthic-folded eyes. The language used to describe them reminds me of

nojojojo pondering how to describe Sieh's eyes, which she explicitly meant to be far east Asian. Now, Chenadolle is not Kansas: it has two suns just for a start. The fact that names and social mores and dress map onto approx. 17th century Belgium is, well, as it is: a manga moment, if you like. But it does lead to semi-this world expectations.

So when I find that the nobility and the haute bourgeoisie tend to pale blue eyes, I'm going to see it in conjunction with pale white skin: and often enough, it seems, that's what the landames and whatall are said to have. What then to make of people finding Phillip's white skin an interesting oddity? I'd be happy for Astreianters to be dark-skinned, with blondness a foreign Chadroni trait-- except there seem to be a fair number of light-haired Astreianters too. So maybe the city's just one big melting pot; and maybe blue eyes do in fact exist in conjunction with dark skin and hair.

(In my world blue eyes are rare, usually found among Ashkenazim. You'd never guess this was once an Anglo-Saxon city. I'd probably feel differently if I lived in Kitchener or Winnipeg or some place the Germans and Swedes actually went to.)

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Maybe his white skin is truly white. Our commonly refered to white skin isn't white, it's peach.

Ahahaha ... maybe it's the Celtic/Irish thing? Hubby is English of such ancestry, but his skin seems to be resistant to any effect of the time he has been here (17 plus years) and is as white as if he just got off the plane yesterday. Whereas Brother-in-law (also English) has got the tanned and ruddy look from having lived here over the years.

And melting pot would be somewhere like say Istanbul where languages, skins, hair and eye colour can mean anything.

Could very well be Istanbulique, a focus of sail trade and caravans; seems very likely, since there's a huge mix in the trading quarters of Astreiant.

Did you ever find a copy of Point of Dreams, BTW?

Sadly no. Have not actually checked Kino so there may be some in the shops. It's been insane busy (when is it ever not? ^_^) so haven't had time to look really.

Have there been other books as well? I should really go look it up myself really.

Happens I have an extra copy of Dreams, which I'll send you. There's a new one out, Fairs' Point. All about dog racing.

Hi dear, the book came. Thank you so very much. I am keeping it unopened so I have pressies to open on my birthday.
This year, it's all stuff I've ordered from far shores. And ｈａｖｅ got the children to wrap them up. Two ofcDavid Tennant's (10th Dr Who) Shakespeare's plays. And all Henry's.
Children and I have been sick hence the lack of comments. Also my laptop has died. Internet ing with a small pithy phone gives me a headache I really don't want to deal with on a regular basis.
I need to find a way to fix this problem. (╬▔＾▔)
Once again, thank you very much for the book. You are a sweetheart. *BIG HUGS!*

Oh, sorry you've been sick. Hope you all start recovering. And losing a laptop is like losing an arm.

I weep at the pathos of 'I bought my own presents and had the kids wrap them'. But I suppose you get things you want that way.

True, though I'm thinking Zan has something there, about it being that thin-skinned Celtic (or, God knows, Ashkenazim) whiteness that *looks* white compared to the darker peach people, and that doesn't tan.

Funnily enough I just saw a Tumblr post go by about blue-eyed Indians.

In India? Is this the guys up the mountain that people think were descended from Alexander's soldiers when he ever-so-briefly came that way, or is it somewhere else?