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DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

Re: Work In Progress--Deryni Action Figure Project (was Duncan Action Figure)

Started by Evie, March 11, 2012, 08:52:30 PM

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Evie

"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Elkhound

Quote from: Evie on January 16, 2015, 09:42:39 PM
There weren't ear pieces, so the wearer had to pinch them onto the bridge of the nose.

Or held up like a lorgnette?

Evie

Maybe, although period illustrations show them worn rather than just held up like a lorgnette. Though if the pivot point was tight enough, I suppose they could just be held in front of the eyes as well. Later versions had a small extension on each of the "handle" pieces to help secure the spectacles over the natural bridge of the nose, so that style would be more likely to be worn, I think, than the earlier style that would have been harder to wear while peering down at a page of text.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

So, here's more mini-Deryni stuff, this time in the proper thread for it!

New guy by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

This was originally one of the main characters from the movie Divergent. I found him on sale at Tuesday Morning and decided his face would work for a young medieval squire to use as one of my background characters or a Schola student. He already came on an articulated body, but it was covered with tattoos, which I attempted to remove with somewhat limited success.  I used industrial strength acetone, which worked well to remove most of the tattoos, but unfortunately there were so many tattoos that I ended up wiping down the body with the acetone long enough for the plastic to begin softening, resulting in cotton fibers getting stuck in the plastic!  So I stopped before the paint removal was quite finished. Later, I found out that a customizer friend had managed to remove the paint successfully from hers by using rubbing alcohol and a Magic Sponge. So I tried again, and this combo did help with the bits of untouched paint remaining in places like his shoulder joints, but I think some of the smears left from the acetone have become permanently embedded into the rehardened plastic of his torso (as did the bits of fuzz left over from my first paint removal attempt), so no shirtless scenes for this young man!

Closer shot by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I'm thinking he will end up as Jemmy Kitchener, the former kitchen boy from one of my fanfic stories, who ended up gaining an education and a chance to become a squire after foiling an assassination attempt against the King.  This would be him a few years after that story, once he is well into his squire years and on track to becoming a knight soon. When I get around to making him a proper costume (in place of these borrowed bits he's wearing), I'll use the descriptions of the Haldane squire costumes from The King's Deryni for inspiration, but since Jemmy is Sextus Arilan's squire rather than King Kelson's, his livery colors and badge will be different.

I really like his lip color. It's a more natural shade of pink than the cyanotic bluish-pink Mattel has sometimes used in the past, or the brighter, almost lipstick-like shade they use in some of the other faceups. I wish Mattel would stick to this lip color for its Caucasian male dolls.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Jerusha

From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night...good Lord deliver us!

 -- Old English Litany

Laurna

I like his face and eyes. Nice addition to your mini Deryni residents.
May your horses have wings and fly!

Evie

His face, hair color, and eyes are what drew me.  Curiously enough, I can't think of many brown-haired, brown-eyed characters in KK's canon, never mind that's one of the most common combinations in the human race, and when I realized there weren't many brown-eyed, brown-haired people in my fanfic either, I decided that Jemmy needed to help fill that lack.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

DesertRose

Apparently gray eyes are commoner in Gwynedd and surrounds than in the real world, and I'm trying to think of a single character for whom we have a good physical description who has brown eyes at all.  It is the world's most common eye color, after all.  I'd imagine Al-Rasoul has dark eyes, and probably Rothana as well, but both of them have hair that is either black or so dark brown it might as well be, LOL.

Come to think, have we ever even seen Al-Rasoul's hair?  He's always got on a turban or similar headdress, so I'm not sure.  I think I'm assuming he has dark hair from his clearly Moorish ethnicity.
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Evie

I think Meraude has brown eyes, although her hair is described as being almost Haldane dark, so if she has brown hair, it's probably one of the darkest shades of brown that almost appears black.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

DesertRose

"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Laurna

I have been meaning to broach this question of eye color for a while now. It seems to me that all Deryni have blue, green, violet, or pale eyes. Even the Moorish Deryni seem to have light colored eyes. At least from the descriptions I have read.  I agree that brown eyes are never mentioned which has lead me to the rough conclusion that brown eyes are human and shades of blue eyes are Deryni.  This, however would be a very telling giveaway as to a person's heritage and your eye color alone could get you killed.  Knowing the inventiveness of mankind, I would imagine that the invention of brown colored contact lenses would then occur about a thousand years before its time, allowing Deryni to hide amongst their human neighbors  :o
May your horses have wings and fly!

Evie

Honestly, I think the near lack of brown eyes among the named characters is probably far less planned than simple oversight. Authors often have an unconscious tendency to describe their favorite characters according to their own personal preferences of ideal handsomeness/beauty, and/or to describe them in such a way that they at least stand out from the average person.  So given that the average person tends to have brown hair and brown eyes, and also that most of the main characters in the series happen to be Deryni, chances are likely that she simply chose to describe them all in a way that would make them mentally stand out (also notice the number of times she describes our main heroes and heroines as handsome or beautiful). In more recent years, writers who are aware of this tendency are more likely to bend over backwards to create more diverse and less idealized characters, but this was less the case during the decades when this series first started, especially in fantasy and romance fiction.

I can tell you that in my own fanfic, I have to remind myself to throw in brown haired, brown eyed characters, since that happens to be my own hair and eye color combo (and therefore more ordinary than exotic to me), and I've always had a weakness for dark hair with light eyes. (And maybe that in itself explains why Alaric just doesn't float my boat as much as many of the other male characters, being not only blond but a very fair haired blond? ) If I were to name which characters I think have the most striking looks based on their descriptions, I'd say Kelson (or any of the Haldanes) and Arilan. (Nope, not Duncan... surprise! I'm sure Duncan is quite handsome too, given how those ladies at Coroth were lying in wait for a glimpse of him, but I fell for Duncan for other qualities besides how nice I imagine he looks. :) )
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

All that said, the Deryni Adventures RPG book outright says that Deryni tend on average to be both longer lived (barring accidents or murder) and more attractive than humans, though not so much so that they can be picked out from the general population solely on that basis. Whether that was included because KK said so herself or because the book compilers noticed that general trend in the series, I don't know. Also, in the captions for her Deryni portraits, Pyracantha seems to have been under the impression that the Deryni were mostly red or blond haired unless they weren't full human, although the books themselves don't seem to bear this out, so maybe she jumped to that conclusion just because of Camber's family and Rhys Thuryn. But it's hardly surprising that Camber's children and grandchildren would bear a family resemblance, after all, and there are "full bloods" on the Camberian Council with dark hair and eyes, so that seems to be an unlikely theory.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Laurna

QuoteHonestly, I think the near lack of brown eyes among the named characters is probably far less planned than simple oversight. Authors often have an unconscious tendency to describe their favorite characters according to their own personal preferences of ideal handsomeness/beauty, and/or to describe them in such a way that they at least stand out from the average person.
I agree that this is the result of personal preferences and was not planned.  I have been rereading In the King's Service and jotting down notes as I go.

Of the Camberian Council in 1081, no one had brown eyes.
            -Barrett De Laney , Emerald Eyes, Blinded 
            -Dominy De Laney, Lady, sea- green eyes
            -Michon de Courcy, Gray eyes.
            -Oisin Adair, blue eyes in a darkly handsome face.
            -Seisyll, Lord Arilan Coadjutor, Violet eyes.
            -Sief MacAthan, Sir, grey eyes
            -Vivienne de Jordanet Lady, fair coloring

The only character that is described as having brown eyes was Sief's replacement- -Laran ap Pardyce who is described as reddish brown hair turned grey and dark brown eyes.

In Morgan's time  a few more dark eyed members are added. -Azim ibn Qais, black hair and black eyes; -Sofiana Vastouni, Sovereign Princess of Andelon- Dark hair and eyes; -Sion Benet,Sir, mane of tawny curls with yellow eyes. Also Rhydon may have had dark eyes, since he was dark and sinister looking.

So my theory of All Deryni being light eyed is debunked.  ;D
May your horses have wings and fly!

Evie

Altar cloth by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I began work on a new altar cloth for St Camber's Chapel. The cross-shaped design elements running down the center of the cloth will be embroidered with fine gold thread. Once those are done, I may go back and use a thicker gold thread or fine cord, couched down with the finer gold thread, to outline some of the other cross-like patterns in the design.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!