So, now that I've actually kinda started typing up Shadow Split, I've started an annoying switch. So, this story has a lot of main characters. Each one comes from a different "country" although the countries of their planet aren't like ours. But in my original draft, only Kiya, Marok, and Shiar looked at all like they belonged to the areas that they came from. And then, Kiya's name was originally Terra-definitely not African. And Shiar isn't a very Chinese name either. I was thinking maybe it's technically Xi-ar, or something, but the others just call her Shiar.
So, I've started trying to make the characters LOOK like their actual ethnicity. There are lots of immigrants all over Magic-Earth, but still, the majority of people living in a place are native to that area. Up till now, Briena has lived in America, but she wasn't Native American. So, in addition to making Teri Native American (and several of the teachers) I made Briena half Native-American (just cause I already kinda had a vision of her in my head).
And for Shadow-Split, I've tried to give them more traditional clothes. Like Shiar now has a sort of sleeveless kimono, Tania has the Indian-style sari kind of clothes (she used to be from Russia, but I changed it to India). But again, many of them need special clothes to accommodate their magic - like Leya, who's got wings, and Eliandra, who spends lots of time under water, and Jeromi, who has a tail, ex.
Now Jeromi's a problem. He's from South America. But he definitely doesn't look it. But I can kind of cheat on that cause he's a shape-shifter, and his human appearance is very similar to his animal appearance.
Leya didn't look Hawaiin at all. It's gonna feel really weird to make her look Hawaiian cause I got an image for her already too.
Eliandra doesn't look Australian. Unless I gave her darker skin. But since Aquaticas spend so much time in the water, would their skin be darker or lighter? I don't know how that would effect skin color. I mean, if you spent a lot of time deep down, you wouldn't be in much danger from sun. But they also spend time on land...
I guess Brant could be Italian (but of course he's got the red hair cause he's got fire magic).
See, some things can be explained away by that all-encompassing excuse of "magic." Also, this is a world very different from ours, and their immigration and everything follows very different rules. And some of them probably AREN'T native to the countries they come from.
Also, a lot of them are from countries where everyone has dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes. I wanted there to be a bit more variety in their appearances...
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