Rant on Mute Characters
Jul. 23rd, 2006 04:39 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
annarti.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
yrae
Not long before I left on holiday, I came across this rant on LJ, about mute and non-speaking characters. For a long~ time, I've been wondering if my girls have been too stereotypical in that respect, but after reading that, I'm happier with their characters than I think I ever have been =D
Cause
Okay, so none of you know the cause of their almost-muteness. I do, so that's enough for me =3 Not through trauma (they didn't talk before Yan rocked up, either), nothing OMGEVIL stole their voices, no medical conditions... nothing that was actually mentioned there. Go me! I think I may have come up with something original! =0
No, I'm not telling you what it is =P
Communication
Certainly no sign language in Raykin. Nobody could be bothered to learn it, including the mute person. They're a bit of a lazy culture, really. Blame it on the heat.
Telepathy? Not rea~lly. Telepathy with desert people, but that's not far short of only being able to speak French in Nazi Germany. Riverfolk hate the desert people, so there are very, very few of them in the cities, and those who are there don't get listened to. Basically, no real advantage in being able to communicate with them. 'min can talk to Ramnaré tho =D
Gestures and facial expressions. I wish authors would describe these more—not only to prevent the inevitable talking head syndrome that occurs in long passages of dialogue, but because it would be a way to get characterization across without resorting to flat statements like, “I am angry.”
That's my girls~ =D It does get pretty damn difficult trying to write expressions and actions and still have the story keep flowing, but I'm getting better! That's something I really admire about Joanne Harris as an author, the way she can physically describe something in two or three words, and you've instantly got the clearest picture of what she's describing in your head. I wish I could do that.
Writing~ I imagine is more a 'min thing. Nimay's not really a great fan of turning sounds into visual marks on paper or in the sand. She'd rather just scribble a quick stick figure or write one or two words, if expressions and gestures weren't getting the point across.
They are, of course, the masters at charades, tho Nimay's definitely more likely to resort to miming something out. Yamin's more likely to snatch a piece of paper and scribble it down if all else fails.
Do they ever get their voices back? I'm tempted to say "aha~ but that would be a SPOILER! =0" But honesstly 9.9 I did a "what if" fic a while ago when they could talk, and it was just WEIRD. It messed with my mind~ xX
Clarity
That~ doesn't count. Their tongues are still intact.
Context
Most of the time, if a fantasy heroine goes into a new culture, she masters the language quickly and is making herself understood in a few months.
AHAHAHAHA. No. Even the Own, who spend more time in Kazin than just about every other Raykinian except the ones who live in Kazin, is pretty damn hopeless at speaking said language. Nol can understnd it perfectly of course--he's the crown prince, so he has something of an obligation there--but speaking it, most Kazinians stop him mid sentence and tell him to speak Raykinian cos it's easier for them to understand. Haenel's the only fluent speaker of the language. Yamin's not too~ bad, but given that she's never actually been to Kazin, she'd have difficulty. Definitely have to ask them to slow down.
A large part of the context in any mute character’s life is going to be frustration.
Oh~ yes. Nimay especially has a hell of a time trying to shut the other guys up and just listen. Figuratively, of course. Yamin tries not to show her frustration, but it gets the better of her sometimes.
Etc etc. I should probably actually write that stuff more often, rather than just knowing it, shouldn't I?
Centralisation
Moot point. No sign language in Raykin, as I've said. I dunno, maybe there's a tinpot town somewhere that has a mute resident or two, so the town's developed it's own sign language *shrug* Certainly not Ni-Yana. If you're got a disability in that city, you live with it (and if it's a missing finger, get mocked for it).
Desert magic is only known by the desert people; everyone else considers it to be instinct, something they just know from when they're born, like animals. No way in hell are the riverfolk going to want to lower themselves to that status.
Care
I squeed when I read this bit =D
Most fantasy characters with their tongues cut out are not the heroes of their own stories. Most born-mute characters are trusted servants who keep their masters’ secrets to the death, not heroes.
Head of the palace healing house and General of the King's Own. I don't think these girls are servants.
Most characters who can’t speak, period, for whatever reason—unless they’re animals—get mentioned in the narrative as “strange” for not laughing, or not sobbing aloud, or not joining conversations, or keeping their thoughts to themselves, or speaking with their hands.
Nimay's just as outgoing as she would be if she spoke, and Yamin would be just as quiet and reserved. People look at them strangely more for their skin, hair and omfgBLUE eyes rather than their lack of words.
Be very careful with mute characters, or you’re going to wind up treating them as exotica, in the way that disabled characters are often portrayed when they’re not the heroes. The difference here is that there are plenty of authors who do use disabled heroes, especially maimed ones, because, hey, wow, they can have silver hands now! Or they can be shown as “cool” for their disabilities. Or they can be made objects of pity, especially if they’re suffering insanity.
Nah, not cool. More unnerving to everyone else, if anything. Especially once they actually meet each other again and have silent conversations.
There are very few authors who use mute heroes. If they do, as I noted, they usually gift them with telepathy. It’s as though not being able to speak aloud is seen as an intractable strangeness, one the authors can’t deal with.
Quit it. You made these people this way.
Again, telepathy in the twins' case is not a gift, not an enviable skill, and not particularly useful either. They learnt it when they were little kiddies, same as learning a second language, but in the far more subtle way of desert magic--the words only came because they were enhanced by the yrae stones. Were the yrae stones a gift? Depends on how you look at it. They lost their parents because of them, Nimay lost the first seven years of her life, and they lost each other for thirteen. They did help get the girls to where they are now, but yeah, not exactly an easy route.
And of course, they can't really make use of it unless they're in the middle of nowhere. WOO! They don't talk, and the people who matter can't understand telepathy. Bugga.
So yeah, that made me happy =D And I felt like rambling about it. A lot, apparently =D;
Cause
Okay, so none of you know the cause of their almost-muteness. I do, so that's enough for me =3 Not through trauma (they didn't talk before Yan rocked up, either), nothing OMGEVIL stole their voices, no medical conditions... nothing that was actually mentioned there. Go me! I think I may have come up with something original! =0
No, I'm not telling you what it is =P
Communication
Certainly no sign language in Raykin. Nobody could be bothered to learn it, including the mute person. They're a bit of a lazy culture, really. Blame it on the heat.
Telepathy? Not rea~lly. Telepathy with desert people, but that's not far short of only being able to speak French in Nazi Germany. Riverfolk hate the desert people, so there are very, very few of them in the cities, and those who are there don't get listened to. Basically, no real advantage in being able to communicate with them. 'min can talk to Ramnaré tho =D
Gestures and facial expressions. I wish authors would describe these more—not only to prevent the inevitable talking head syndrome that occurs in long passages of dialogue, but because it would be a way to get characterization across without resorting to flat statements like, “I am angry.”
That's my girls~ =D It does get pretty damn difficult trying to write expressions and actions and still have the story keep flowing, but I'm getting better! That's something I really admire about Joanne Harris as an author, the way she can physically describe something in two or three words, and you've instantly got the clearest picture of what she's describing in your head. I wish I could do that.
Writing~ I imagine is more a 'min thing. Nimay's not really a great fan of turning sounds into visual marks on paper or in the sand. She'd rather just scribble a quick stick figure or write one or two words, if expressions and gestures weren't getting the point across.
They are, of course, the masters at charades, tho Nimay's definitely more likely to resort to miming something out. Yamin's more likely to snatch a piece of paper and scribble it down if all else fails.
Do they ever get their voices back? I'm tempted to say "aha~ but that would be a SPOILER! =0" But honesstly 9.9 I did a "what if" fic a while ago when they could talk, and it was just WEIRD. It messed with my mind~ xX
Clarity
That~ doesn't count. Their tongues are still intact.
Context
Most of the time, if a fantasy heroine goes into a new culture, she masters the language quickly and is making herself understood in a few months.
AHAHAHAHA. No. Even the Own, who spend more time in Kazin than just about every other Raykinian except the ones who live in Kazin, is pretty damn hopeless at speaking said language. Nol can understnd it perfectly of course--he's the crown prince, so he has something of an obligation there--but speaking it, most Kazinians stop him mid sentence and tell him to speak Raykinian cos it's easier for them to understand. Haenel's the only fluent speaker of the language. Yamin's not too~ bad, but given that she's never actually been to Kazin, she'd have difficulty. Definitely have to ask them to slow down.
A large part of the context in any mute character’s life is going to be frustration.
Oh~ yes. Nimay especially has a hell of a time trying to shut the other guys up and just listen. Figuratively, of course. Yamin tries not to show her frustration, but it gets the better of her sometimes.
Etc etc. I should probably actually write that stuff more often, rather than just knowing it, shouldn't I?
Centralisation
Moot point. No sign language in Raykin, as I've said. I dunno, maybe there's a tinpot town somewhere that has a mute resident or two, so the town's developed it's own sign language *shrug* Certainly not Ni-Yana. If you're got a disability in that city, you live with it (and if it's a missing finger, get mocked for it).
Desert magic is only known by the desert people; everyone else considers it to be instinct, something they just know from when they're born, like animals. No way in hell are the riverfolk going to want to lower themselves to that status.
Care
I squeed when I read this bit =D
Most fantasy characters with their tongues cut out are not the heroes of their own stories. Most born-mute characters are trusted servants who keep their masters’ secrets to the death, not heroes.
Head of the palace healing house and General of the King's Own. I don't think these girls are servants.
Most characters who can’t speak, period, for whatever reason—unless they’re animals—get mentioned in the narrative as “strange” for not laughing, or not sobbing aloud, or not joining conversations, or keeping their thoughts to themselves, or speaking with their hands.
Nimay's just as outgoing as she would be if she spoke, and Yamin would be just as quiet and reserved. People look at them strangely more for their skin, hair and omfgBLUE eyes rather than their lack of words.
Be very careful with mute characters, or you’re going to wind up treating them as exotica, in the way that disabled characters are often portrayed when they’re not the heroes. The difference here is that there are plenty of authors who do use disabled heroes, especially maimed ones, because, hey, wow, they can have silver hands now! Or they can be shown as “cool” for their disabilities. Or they can be made objects of pity, especially if they’re suffering insanity.
Nah, not cool. More unnerving to everyone else, if anything. Especially once they actually meet each other again and have silent conversations.
There are very few authors who use mute heroes. If they do, as I noted, they usually gift them with telepathy. It’s as though not being able to speak aloud is seen as an intractable strangeness, one the authors can’t deal with.
Quit it. You made these people this way.
Again, telepathy in the twins' case is not a gift, not an enviable skill, and not particularly useful either. They learnt it when they were little kiddies, same as learning a second language, but in the far more subtle way of desert magic--the words only came because they were enhanced by the yrae stones. Were the yrae stones a gift? Depends on how you look at it. They lost their parents because of them, Nimay lost the first seven years of her life, and they lost each other for thirteen. They did help get the girls to where they are now, but yeah, not exactly an easy route.
And of course, they can't really make use of it unless they're in the middle of nowhere. WOO! They don't talk, and the people who matter can't understand telepathy. Bugga.
So yeah, that made me happy =D And I felt like rambling about it. A lot, apparently =D;
no subject
Date: 2006-07-23 11:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 03:47 am (UTC)Aww~ thankuu hun *^^*
no subject
Date: 2006-07-24 10:09 am (UTC)