Real World descriptions for Arm Avatars

[ianmartin]

Is it considered incorrect to create a character BUT utilize real world words in the descriptions?   For example, what if I wanted an Elf with features similar to an Asian person and described them as such.?

[MeTekillot]

I think saying 'They have asian looking eyes/nose/features' would be inappropriate, yes.

[Calavera]

Yeah, I think where it becomes inappropriate is when you start using real-world ethnic descriptors.

If you'd like to describe someone with Asiatic features, or any other ethnic group, I don't see a problem with it. Your PC can look however you wish provided the guidelines are followed, but it's easy to describe what facial features look like without falling back on real-world racial descriptors.

[Marauder Moe]

It depends on the descriptor.

"Asian" is probably not allowed, though I'm pretty sure I've seen "spartan" and "roman".

[CravenMadness]

It was mentioned that I couldn't have a 'cauliflower-ear' ... because Zalanthalas doesn't have cauliflower.

[MeTekillot]

but i've seen people with caramel skin and chocolate hair...

[ShaLeah]

One can describe ethnic features in more lyrical prose. Your asian can have heavy lidded, slanted eyes and skin that is light amber. Coupled with lifeless, blue black hair. Your nordic God is of course blonde and chiseled with blue eyes and maybe reddish stubble, your black person's skin can range from dark toffee to espresso, their lips can be described, their nose, their kinky hair. When I read a description I want a vision, a detailed vision of what I'm looking at. Go the extra, descriptive mile.

[ShaLeah]

but i've seen people with caramel skin and chocolate hair...

Those are colors, not really ethnic descriptors.

[Calavera]

but i've seen people with caramel skin and chocolate hair...

Clearly someone hasn't been to the food court by the gypsy waterslides if they think Zalanthas doesn't have caramel and ice cream sundaes.

[Delirium]

I was dead serious about to make that joke. Dammit.

[Booya]

I'm a quarter hoping, and half anxious that something like this will happen:

The Bustling Meeting Place. (NSW)
It's steamy and bustling in here. Smells nice, too.


The lean, coffee-hued man is sitting at a table near the window.
The sweet-faced, cocoa-haired woman is sitting at a table near the window.
The chubby, caramel-skinned man is sitting at a table near the window.
The milky-eyed youth is sitting at a thin, alabaster bar.
The creamy-complexioned man is crafting here.
The wiry, expresso-haired soldier stands by the bar, off-duty.
The urbane, mocha-skinned woman sits at a low table, sipping from a cup.
The dark, chocolate-eyed soldier watches the room suspiciously from the doorway.

[Malifaxis]

I'm a quarter hoping, and half anxious that something like this will happen:

The Bustling Meeting Place. (NSW)
It's steamy and bustling in here. Smells nice, too.


The lean, coffee-hued man is sitting at a table near the window.
The sweet-faced, cocoa-haired woman is sitting at a table near the window.
The chubby, caramel-skinned man is sitting at a table near the window.
The milky-eyed youth is sitting at a thin, alabaster bar.
The creamy-complexioned man is crafting here.
The wiry, expresso-haired soldier stands by the bar, off-duty.
The urbane, mocha-skinned woman sits at a low table, sipping from a cup.
The dark, chocolate-eyed soldier watches the room suspiciously from the doorway.

[Desertman]

I want to play...

The white-trash, mullet-haired man

[Celest]

I saw the thread title and thought this would be about nyan cat

As for the thread itself, my rule of thumb is that if there's not a good descriptor in Zalanthas, RL uses are okay. Finding a word for "dark brown" that isn't dark brown and uses Zalanthan colors is surprisingly hard, since most RL shades of brown are after foods (chocolate, mahogany, mocha, coffee, cocoa etc.) or refer to colors with red in them. Zalanthan ones are purple/greenish, largely.

Asian is not okay, because there are plenty of good descriptors for the features mentioned without going to real life examples.

[Desertman]

The down-syndrome midget....

[Tuannon]

It depends on the descriptor.

"Asian" is probably not allowed, though I'm pretty sure I've seen "spartan" and "roman".

Having been a 'spartan' person, it also means 'Not fancy'..

[timb]

The down-syndrome midget....

the thalidomide syndrome, extra-chromosome youth

[Kieandatu]

The down-syndrome midget....

the thalidomide syndrome, extra-chromosome youth

The wide-faced....

Uh.

=)

[A Large Bag]

I thought about "the drooling, cross-eyed waterhead" but I'd be afraid people would kill him for the water if we ran out in the desert.

I know, that is so not pc. Sorry if anyone was offended.

[Kevo]

wow.

put foot bag

[Ghaati111]

It depends on the descriptor.

"Asian" is probably not allowed, though I'm pretty sure I've seen "spartan" and "roman".

Having been a 'spartan' person, it also means 'Not fancy'..

It means "not fancy" as a direct result of its etymology, which is to describe a "not fancy" people from a particular classic Greek city called Sparta. Laconic is another word with its meaning tied directly to the area around Sparta - the location was called Lakon. From an online Etymology dictionary http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=laconic :

laconic (adj.) Look up laconic at Dictionary.com
    "concise, abrupt," 1580s, probably via L. Laconicus, from Gk. Lakonikos, from Lakon "person from Lakonia," the district around Sparta in southern Greece in ancient times, whose inhabitants were famously proud of their brevity of speech. When Philip of Macedon threatened them with, "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground," the Spartans' reply was, "If." An earlier form was laconical (1570s). Related: Laconically.

[Maso]

I think spartan is good. It has evolved pretty far from referring directly to a race, and does not always refer to the actual physical attributes of a person. You can have a spartan room...and that doesn't mean it has furnishings crafted by Spartan labourers. It's really not the same thing as using 'Asian'.

[Tuannon]

My apologies in advance, but asian has a LOT of implications for me when we're talking about architrecture and so on.

Having Wats in the jungle around Treehuggerville would be awesome for example.

If we're talking about describing people, I'd say most people with epicanthic folds would look stereotypically asian.

But I don't know the evolutionary whys or what fors about the development of that particular characteristic, so I couldn't even begin to ponder a Zalanthean equivalent without making a hash of it.

[Ender]