Not trying to start anything here but I'm genuinely curious how you think someone with darker skin being with someone with lighter skin is racist.
I think it's more to show that opposites look good together and attract one another. As well as to show their vast differences in life up until that point. I get it's a little lazy of a way to show ethnical differences. I do think it's more of a way (in this case) to show how devoid of color her life is, and how full of life his has been.
Of course, it could just purely be a stylistic choice and I'm reading too much into it. Lol. They do look good together, don't they? And I agree that the artwork and clothing is so lovely. I'm glad it's not the same dress every time and the author changes it up. So nice to see.
I think it's more of the fact that the characters with darker skin are always the strong and burly characters. Whereas the "glass bones" characters are always "white" or at least very pale. But this artwork and plot are very good and I believe the dynamic works very well for the world the story is building :)
Adding my 2cent here but I always recoil a bit when the dark skin characters are described as "barbarians", and the fair skin ones are supposedly "pure, innocent,naive..." And it's VERY often the case in the fantasy genre.
Anw, they do be looking good together :)
Bc they always have the brown skinned character be strong, seem barbaric, hyper sexual etc. Their skin being brown is being used solely for appearance and the viewers sexual fantasies. And having the only brown skin ppl in the story be labeled as barbaric/simplistic thieves or criminals
Heyy adding my 5cent here too, what triggered me a lot personally was that they often describe black skin characters as people "driven by their instinct, similar to savage animals" which was actually a big part of the colonial discourse so it's kinda weird to use this huge racist stereotype inherited from history.. I'm not sure it's conscious tho and I agree that their dynamic is great and the ml is more nuanced than that!
Aaaah. I see. That makes more sense. Yeah, I don't like that either. It would be nice to see the dynamic switched, but I don't know how that would be received. Not because it's unrealistic in any sense, but people are so used to seeing those with tan skin being of stronger character. I think it might put people off if we had a "pure, innocent and naive" woman with darker skin. But thats just because society is volatile and touchy with that stuff nowadays. Like I said, I think it would be refreshing.
A princess from a desert land who is kept by an overbearing uncle dreams of the ocean and seeing the world. A traveler from a distant realm who is fascinated with their culture finally gets leave by his king to trade there. He meets the princess while greeting her uncle, the king and is fascinated by her veiled beauty. He can't stop thinking about her and finds a jewel in the market that reminds him how her eyes. He gifts it to her and she secrets it away, knowing that if it's found, it will be taken away. They write letters, he sneaks to visit her at night often. Her guard, maybe, has a secret love for her that is bordering on obsession. He wants to free her of her uncle, but can't let her go to the merchant, someone outside their culture and beneath her status. He convinces her uncle to raise his own status so that he can marry her himself, swearing loyalty to the king when, in fact, it was her father he was loyal to, but if it means he could have her, he'll do anything.
Mc and Ml will be devastated by the turn of events but the ML will back off, knowing he doesn't have the power to go against an empire in a foreign country and it could cause war. She's heartbroken and decides she doesn't want to see him again if that's the case and doesn't need a weak man who won't even fight for her. To be continued...lol
Would make a good story, yeah?
Dudeeee it's such a great story, changes a lot from what we're used to and great twist
I hate the whole tan barbarian ml x glass bones paper skin fl trope bc its like racist asf but whatever this is actually pretty good fls perspective is really complex and this is actually one historical fantasy where im really into how they do her hair and clothes. intricate braided updos corsets squeee