2007-09-26 A rather elven thing to say

[Shteven]

Maybe Bani and her mother just had really dark tans. After all, Tsuiraku is a hundred miles above the ground. Not much air between them and the sun.

I find that highly unlikely, given that the late Mrs. Igaaru's hair appears to be a rather stylish afro. Now, it's a rather small picture, but were she of the fairer genetic alignment, I'd imagine it'd appear a good deal more teased and feathered. Now, I'm quite willing to admit that I could be very, very, very wrong about this and that both Bani and her late mother were just particularly well tanned both in Bani's younger years and at the time that portrait was made, but my intuition's telling me that Mrs. Igaaru was most definitely a black woman.

I have had to drag a catgirl out into a dark alley and shoot her. Don't make me do it again.

<Yes this means I'm claiming I'm god. Hey, I had to get a dark alley reference in there somewhere.>

[Boss Out of Town]

Maybe Bani and her mother just had really dark tans. After all, Tsuiraku is a hundred miles above the ground. Not much air between them and the sun.

I find that highly unlikely, given that the late Mrs. Igaaru's hair appears to be a rather stylish afro. Now, it's a rather small picture, but were she of the fairer genetic alignment, I'd imagine it'd appear a good deal more teased and feathered. Now, I'm quite willing to admit that I could be very, very, very wrong about this and that both Bani and her late mother were just particularly well tanned both in Bani's younger years and at the time that portrait was made, but my intuition's telling me that Mrs. Igaaru was most definitely a black woman.

All of that depends on what Poe sets up as the ethnic pattern in this world. We've already established, that there are at least three (more or less human) racial genotypes not found in our world: Elves, Dwarves, and Trolls. We also know that natural law with respect to biology is not the same (its magic, dudes! Also immortality). "Black" as an ethnic descriptive in the United States isn't a genotype, it is a political and cultural definition. Which is to say, it can be a model of some ethnic group in this world if Poe wanted to use some common description that fits that Americanism. Given that his drawing style isn't photographic, he can draw an African-American skin tone or hair type if he wishes to, but anything we say about it is only a guess unless he lays in other clues (as I believe they do in Afro-Samurai.)

[Graybeard]

Rather curious that Bani, as she appears now, looks pretty much nothing like her mother compared to when she was a kid. Must've gotten fairly adept at illusions perhaps, given her lighter complexion, or perhaps she simply resorts to merely mundane means considering the hair. No doubt that there's some magically-created tonics to alter skin tone and hair color. I'd even forgotten how dark her complexion was when she was a teen until Poe showed us the picture of her mother. But I have to admit, I never would've pegged Toshi for being fond of the so-called 'ghetto booty'..

Somewhere along the way there was either filler art or (I think) a bookmark/button that showed battlemage Bani with (quite attractively) browner skin than most of the other characters. I must say that I find the "ghetto booty" comment offensive. Maybe the answer is simply that humans in the Poe-verse don't have hangups based on skin color, in which case it's a better place than the real world is.

All of that depends on what Poe sets up as the ethnic pattern in this world. We've already established, that there are at least three (more or less human) racial genotypes not found in our world: Elves, Dwarves, and Trolls. We also know that natural law with respect to biology is not the same (its magic, dudes! Also immortality). "Black" as an ethnic descriptive in the United States isn't a genotype, it is a political and cultural definition.

There are other indications that at least some Farrelians (Farrelites?) have darker skin, as for example here. Check out bandit Jim's skin tone compared to the others shown in that strip. Coincidence? Maybe, but unlikely.

To me this is not so much of a hint at ethnic pattern in the Poe-verse as rather an indication of the way Poe has matured as a craftsman as the story has gone on. I say "craftsman" rather than "artist" for a reason. The art back in the early chapters has essentially as much detail as the latest ones, but it basically was plain old black and white. He's learned to add shading as he's gone along, with the result that subtleties like skin tone now show up. Good for him, and let it continue.

[BloodHenge]

Somewhere along the way there was either filler art or (I think) a bookmark/button that showed battlemage Bani with (quite attractively) browner skin than most of the other characters.

I don't know if it's what you're thinking of, but the wallpaper a month or two had her in her military uniform, with her Yuuki staff powered up. I know, because I'm using it, and she looks very nice indeed. I especially like the contrast between her dark skin and bright hair.

[Graybeard]

Somewhere along the way there was either filler art or (I think) a bookmark/button that showed battlemage Bani with (quite attractively) browner skin than most of the other characters.

I don't know if it's what you're thinking of, but the wallpaper a month or two had her in her military uniform, with her Yuuki staff powered up. I know, because I'm using it, and she looks very nice indeed. I especially like the contrast between her dark skin and bright hair.

Yup, that was it.

[Slamlander]

Rather curious that Bani, as she appears now, looks pretty much nothing like her mother compared to when she was a kid. Must've gotten fairly adept at illusions perhaps, given her lighter complexion, or perhaps she simply resorts to merely mundane means considering the hair. No doubt that there's some magically-created tonics to alter skin tone and hair color. I'd even forgotten how dark her complexion was when she was a teen until Poe showed us the picture of her mother. But I have to admit, I never would've pegged Toshi for being fond of the so-called 'ghetto booty'..

Somewhere along the way there was either filler art or (I think) a bookmark/button that showed battlemage Bani with (quite attractively) browner skin than most of the other characters. I must say that I find the "ghetto booty" comment offensive. Maybe the answer is simply that humans in the Poe-verse don't have hangups based on skin color, in which case it's a better place than the real world is...

Let me chime in with the Abbot here and further point out that your assumptions say a lot about you.

[Killjoy]

Rather curious that Bani, as she appears now, looks pretty much nothing like her mother compared to when she was a kid. Must've gotten fairly adept at illusions perhaps, given her lighter complexion, or perhaps she simply resorts to merely mundane means considering the hair. No doubt that there's some magically-created tonics to alter skin tone and hair color. I'd even forgotten how dark her complexion was when she was a teen until Poe showed us the picture of her mother. But I have to admit, I never would've pegged Toshi for being fond of the so-called 'ghetto booty'..

"Ghetto booty?" Exactly which ghetto do you think it is that Bani's late mother was from?

And really, is it so shocking or strange that Bani might have ended up with more of her father's complection than her mothers?

EDIT: And as others have pointed out, color art of Bani has shown her with a darker complection than, say, Meji or Sara.

[Killjoy]

Maybe Bani and her mother just had really dark tans. After all, Tsuiraku is a hundred miles above the ground. Not much air between them and the sun.

I thought we had cleared that up as being highly unlikely, and probably a figure of speach. If nothing else, look at the floating part of the city in the recent view from below...does it look like it's 100 miles away from the point of view at ground level? Never mind the fact that 100 miles up is about 4 times higher than the highest peaks in south Asia on Earth, and most people need bottled oxygen when climbing even to that altitude.

[Pillaroforder]

A mile high is enough to give you blisters in the high noon sun you'll never forget. First hand experience, trust me. (hole in the ozone + forgot sunblock = didn't exactly help either)

[Forrest]

"Ghetto booty?" Exactly which ghetto do you think it is that Bani's late mother was from?

I dunno, most of Farrell looks pretty ghetto to me. Meji seemed to share the same opinion. "No indoor plumbing" and all that.

I wonder, if there are 'races' as we know them amongst humans in the Poeverse, when did they arise? Way back when they were created, or sometime in the god-knows-how-long its been since? Ditto the Elven races. I wonder if different Elven races differ in skin tone; we already know that they differ in hair color. I also wonder if the distribution of human races across the world mirrors the old division of Elven lands, and what that might suggest about the halfelvenness of humans in general...