Stolen from a comment on lady_krysis's MySpace

[lunesque]

He watches; as she struggles with fragile facts, sincere visions, and honorable defeats, the tears of heavenly belief fill the valley, raising the smell of hope to the heart of the immortalized pilgrim.

What, exactly, is 'the smell of hope'?

Is this absolute crap, or am I just being especially unforgiving?

Comments

[makishef.livejournal.com]

I don't know what the smell of hope is. Perhaps it's something like... "the rush of cool air after a bird beats its wings, scented with lilies and other fragrant nonsense."

[makishef.livejournal.com]

P.S. I'm totally joking. I almost took myself seriously, so I thought I should clarify.

Whatever that is makes no sense and is total crap. Don't feel bad.

[lunesque.livejournal.com]

*snerk*

I just feel bad because it seems like my tolerance for other people's writing is just... deteriorating. I mean, I'm not fantastic myself, but at least I don't spew like this. *_*

Anymore. *laughs*

[makishef.livejournal.com]

I think I should be quite proud of myself; I don't know that I've ever tried to shove this much muddled sensation into one passage. Yay!

I have, however, written incredibly, awesomely bad porn, as well as fiddled with some styles that now make me say, "BLECH."

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

I think sometimes writers feel they have to turn imagery on its ass, so that something seen is perceived as heard, or something heard is smelled, and on and on. I know I've been guilty of this; in one Bleach fic I have the following, probably unforgivable passage:

and finds Ichigo's mouth tastes of colors, some that have no name, and sensations that shouldn't have tastes, but do, like satin and fire and steel, and sounds, like music and machinery and heartbeats, and smells familiar and arcane, that intoxicate and stimulate. And Ichigo tastes of fear and strength and pain and pleasure and wonder and insecurity and need, just like me, he's just like me--

So, uh, yeah, it's common, and you're probably right to roll your eyes at it!

[lunesque.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I'm not completely innocent of it myself, but there are just some things. Seriously. The heart smelling the scent of hope? I just can't wrap my brain around anything in that passage.

And I admit, I giggled a little at the Ichigo passage. ^^;; I throw myself on your mercy.

[scheherezhad]

I think I am not so much bothered by the smell of hope as I am by the fact that the heart is the organ doing the smelling of said scent. The passage as a whole is the sort of purple gunk I would normally expect to have come out of a bad Gundam Wing fic, though. (And yes, specifically Gundam Wing. I have yet to be in another fandom that can match GW for astoundingly crappy fic. Static Shock fandom comes close, but...man. GW wins a special prize for bad, despite the handful of good and really great authors there.)

[lunesque.livejournal.com]

I completely and totally agree with everything you said. That's probably the biggest reason I stopped reading GW fic. *sigh*

[makishef.livejournal.com]

Good God, yes! *currently writing GW pr0n; shoves it under her desk* Gundam Wing has some of the best and most addicting bad!fic out there.

[saekhwa]

Pretty words for what they are, but he's not a skilled writer by any means. Thankfully, he at least admits that.

I can say I'm guilty too, though, so *shrugs*

I didn't even think you read my MySpace since you don't like it. ^_^

[lunesque.livejournal.com]

I was just... very pained. It's heavy, useless imagery. Maybe I'm being egotistical in thinking that my own writing has streamlined a bit away from that, but sometimes I'm just smacked with wtf?

And of course I read your myspace. Sometimes I want to edit it, honestly, but you have some interesting stuff in there.

And it's not like you update your LJ anymore, so...yeah. :)

[saekhwa]

*shrugs*

Edit my MySpace for what? If there are misspelled words, I have to know (and I've become rather lax in rereading what I write these days).

Yeah ... I've given up LJ. Guilty.

[lunesque.livejournal.com]

I'm not talking about misspellings, really.

You're just... such a purple writer! Every time I read you, I completely lose what you're trying to say! We've had this conversation before. ^^;

[saekhwa]

Yeah, mostly because I'm trying to write an abstract image. I just go with how pretty the words sound to me. An interesting side note, the poetry I perform for competitions is such a concrete narrative, I feel bipolar.

Eh. *shrugs* Edit it away.

[draca.livejournal.com]

Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap!!! But you already know my feeligs about the extent of the hate. My kneecaps sense the hostility radiating from my elbow, daring to hope for a glimmer of sarcasm.

[lunesque.livejournal.com]

*snerk* ♥

[nonewwitticisms.livejournal.com]

I don't know what you people are talking about. My heart smells hope all the time. Also the burritos from last night.

[lunesque.livejournal.com]

And that is because you are unique.

*pat*