Hydaelyn Role-Players

Hello again folks!
I bring to you, once more, a roleplay guide for those interested in playing certain character traits; in this case, a character with albinism or leucism!

Please note that I do not wish to police anyone's roleplay, and thus leave this as just an informational guide for those interested- we ARE playing in a fantasy setting, after all!


So!
What is Albinism?
Albinism is a recessive, inherited genetic trait that can affect any vertebrate creatures- humans, and our other lovable humanoid characters in game.
It's a lack of melanin- the thing that gives your skin, hair, and eyes pigment.


What does Albinism involve?
Well, there is the very obvious trait of lacking pigmentation. The skin is very light and sensitive to sunlight, easily causing sunburns and skin related problems (skin cancers).
Despite common misconception, the eyes of someone with albinism are not red. Actually, the iris is a very pale blue/grey, but the blood vessels behind them are easily seen. Eye colour can 'change' according to the lighting in which they are viewed, looking light green, blue, red, or violet.

Those affected with albinism always have a degree of vision problems. In real life, coke-bottle glasses and special binocular-like devices are used to help keep a fair standard of living. Detail loss is the most common issue, making reading or seeing intricate patterns difficult if not impossible.
I suggest looking into bloggers with albinism, as they tend to go into detail about their vision problems.
Photophobia (an intake of too much light), Nystagmus ('dancing' eyes, involuntary eye movements that make focusing on detail near impossible), and Astigmatism (blurred vision) are also common visual defects.

The hair of those with albinism tends to be a shocking, snowy white colour- however, shades of red and strawberry blonde are also common.
This goes for eyelashes, eyebrows, and body hair as well.

Here is a gif of someone who has nystagmus:


Here is a bird with albinism; note that it's entire body lacks pigmentation, and that the red/pink colours come from blood vessels below the skin:




You mentioned Leucism, what is that?
Leucism is a lot like Albinism in that it effects the pigmentation in the body- however, instead of a total lack of melanin, the colour loss is caused by a defect in pigment cells.
Because of this, sections of the body- eyes, for example -can still retain their intended genetic colours.
This is usually associated with piebald colour patterns in animals
For example, this bird- it's eyes and legs have retained their colour, while much of their body has little to no pigmentation:


Leucistic animals do not suffer from eye conditions like their albino counterparts.

Leucisim is (At least, I can't find any sources that says it is) not found in humans- however, as this is a fantasy setting with flying fish and giant thunder-grandpa's, there should be no harm in transferring the traits to a character.

--


If you'd like to know more about albinism or leucism, since this guide is very simple, here are some links to check out! These are also my sources for information, along side some documentary I watched ages ago and can't find again.

Wiki page for Albinism
Wiki page for Leucism
N.O.A.H (National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation)

I hope you all found this informative!
I shall now return to my lurking. And perhaps a nap.

Edited for typo- As far as I know, there are no character trains coming to this station.
Edited for addition- As noted in a comment, red/strawberry blonde hair can be seen on those with albinism.

Everyone jelly of Faye's #albinoswag.

(12-11-2014, 06:18 PM)Faye Wrote: [ -> ]Everyone jelly of Faye's #albinoswag.

I admit to some jelly. Ameline could not pull it off, but Faye looks perrrrty with the white hair!

Thank you for this. I appreciate when people do research when giving characters traits like this! Albinism in its various forms is something I'm super fond of, so this makes me go .

(12-11-2014, 06:23 PM)Elezen Pron Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-11-2014, 06:18 PM)Faye Wrote: [ -> ]Everyone jelly of Faye's #albinoswag.

I admit to some jelly. Ameline could not pull it off, but Faye looks perrrrty with the white hair!

Thank you! I was actually going to make an Elezen at first, but they just didn't look right with Faye's features ;-;

Thanks for putting this together. Though I feel like it's worth adding that albinism does not automatically mean white hair (in humans anyway). While it's fairly common, so are various shades of blonde, and less frequently red and brown. It's a misconception that I've run into pretty often (to the point where I'd say it's just as if not more common than the red eyes thing).

(12-11-2014, 06:18 PM)Faye Wrote: [ -> ]Everyone jelly of Faye's #albinoswag.

Oh yeah? M-More like #sunburnswag

YEAH I WENT THERE WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M JELLY?!

Edited for slightly better wording AND the addition of hair colour variations, as it was commented that white is not the only colour of hair for those with albinism.