Also, because I don't think I typed it nowhere, but I did make a mental note that Marisa described Amery as having dark brown skin and described Winter as having warm brown skin and like... FYM Bitch? All brown skin is warm. Brown is a warm color. And what is the difference in her mind between their skin where his is described as dark, before she absolutely describes a corrupt deviant and Winter's is warm, before she describes a beautiful delicate doll of a human?
It can be absolutely nothing. But, my brain has been put through a lot by this woman this week, so idek.
That's a good point! I think it's interesting to note how the characters skintones are referenced especially since the books were written in the early 2010s (i think Marissa said she started writing Cinder during the 2008 NaNoWriMo) and released throughout the 2010s. I remember seeing a lot of writing advice around this time warning authors away from describing characters of colour's skintones using food based adjectives like chocolate, mocha etc (which I fully agree with!!), so I wonder if this was maybe Meyers' attempt at an overcorrection in the other way? By using more of shades like brown, pale etc and then descriptors like warm, dark?
It's odd no matter what, but I do wonder her creative process 🤔
