Can I have blue hair?

whatsupbuttercup · Jan 12, 2014

eyeblink said:
I thought of Léa Seydoux in Blue is the Warmest Colour (a likely Oscar contender for Best Foreign-Language Film) but maybe that's just me - and that's certainly not YA or the cinematic equivalent. I haven't read Daughter of Smoke and Bone either and I'd question that the character there is as iconic as the OP suggests. If the character was a teenage boy with glasses and a lightning-shaped scar, then that might be different.

I haven't seen the movie yet but want to. I haven't found many theaters here in NYC showing it since it's not a "mainstream" film here. I completely forgot it, so thank you for reminding me.

And I agree, I don't think the character from the book OP mentioned is iconic enough to require a change the MC to have a different hair color. Harry Potter is a perfect example of a character with iconic character descriptions. I doubt OP would be in any trouble having a FMC with blue hair.

Tiberius · Jan 29, 2014

jessicarabica said:
I trunked a WIP some time ago when, after reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I found that one of my MCs too closely resembled Karou: blue hair, multitudinous necklaces and all. She also deals with souls in a way, although the way she does it, along with the rest of the story, is nothing like DoSaB. Thing is, I'd like to revive this story, and I'm a little attached to the blue hair. It's a bit of a clue. But.

Is it a bad idea to keep something that will probably cause a reader to think of another book? I mean, Karou is pretty damn distinctive.

I doubt very much that I will ever submit this WIP traditionally. (It's novella length.) But.... Argh. Would you make a change if this happened to your character?

Go right ahead.

I mean, I've got an idea for a fantasy story, and the MC is a red headed witch. But I don't think anyone's going to consider her a rip off of Willow.

SBibb · Jan 30, 2014

I suspect having blue hair should be fine, so long as you don't describe it the same way as Karou's.

It took a while for me to remember, but I think the MC in Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce died her hair blue (fairly near the beginning of the book), so its not like Karou is the only character out there.

Unless some just read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I doubt it'll be a big deal.

Can I have blue hair?

whatsupbuttercup

Tiberius

SBibb