Green Eyes

[raefinlay]

I've been reading the new(ish) Luna line to get a feel for that particular market. Read one that was pretty decent. (C.E. Murphy's Urban Shaman.) Read another that was abysmal. The abysmal one contains the typical hero/heroine in a love/hate relationship. They torment each other verbally while being undeniably drawn together by flaming passion, blah, blah. *has headache from rolling eyes so much* If I read another "sparks" or "moth to flame" metaphor I will spork this book.

Also, the heroine has green eyes. Not only are they green, they are oft-noted whenever the reader is forced to wallow in the hero's POV.

Dude(s). In one of my WIPs, my heroine has green eyes. I didn't do this because it was a cliche. I did it because *I* have green eyes, so I know how to write about them. Color-crayon green. Green that makes people look twice and say, DUDE, you have GREEN eyes. My sister has green eyes. My cousin has the kind of sea-green eyes that make you think about tropical beaches. Green eyes are just...normal. To me.

But reading the abysmal book, I'm getting it. I see why people are so irritated by the green eye thing. Why do so many authors choose this color for attractive heroines? I guess Hitler ruined us for blue. (Unless, of course, the blue eyes are accompanied by dark hair.) And brown is just so...I dunno. Why not brown? Do we still have subconsious, residual issues with brown?

*repaints all characters with brown eyes*

Comments

[ccfinlay.livejournal.com]

It's just hard to imagine guy writers having this same conversation. It'd probably be more like:

"Dudes. So yesterday I was rereading Robert Jordan's Lord of Chaos, right, and like I noticed heads exploding like ripe melons maybe sixteen different times. You know? And I have a head exploding like a ripe melon in my story too. I didn't realize it was such a cliche! I tried to turn it into a head exploding like a cantelope or a honeydew, but that just seems, I dunno, too girly. I mean soldiers don't eat cantelopes. I so totally don't know what to do now. I'm screwed!"

"Comment: How about heads exploding like water balloons? I've used that one."

"Comment: I used heads exploding like water balloons filled with oatmeal. I think that gets more of the effect."

"Comment: Oh! That's good! I want to use that! But now it's already been used! I'm still screwed!"

"Comment: Giant overripe tomatoes? Nice and bloody looking."

"Comment: Do your heads have to explode? Can't it be some other body part instead?"

"Comment: No, it's definitely got to be heads. See, it's magic, they're trying to think through a problem, and SPLAT. I really need the effect."

"Comment: How about heads exploding like roadkill bloated by the sun?"

"Comment: Oooh! I've never seen that one. Awesome. Thanks! You guys rock!"

[raecarson.livejournal.com]

HA!!!

ccfinlay, meet aaron_mag. aaron_mag, meet ccfinlay. Now, go explode stuff.

[aaron-mag.livejournal.com]

Very funny...

Also, anyone who has ever dropped a watermelon versus a cantelope knows that nothing explodes so satisfyingly as a watermelon...

:D

Not even sure 'satisfyingly' is even a word, but it fit...

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

Neither of which resembles an exploding head really. That's more like a half-cooked egg -- the shell better approximates skull shards.

[aaron-mag.livejournal.com]

Heh heh...

I'll keep that in mind if I ever need it.

But we men are not inspired much by gory details. They only serve to remind us of our mortality and of the senseless and meaningless death in violence.

That is why, when we play against a football team with orange helmets, we start chanting stuff like, "Its pumpkin smashing season..."

We don't want true reality or thoughts of danger to interfere with our simulated violence, dammit!!!

Let us retain our strange rites of passage. It is all of the tribal community we have left.

:D

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

Loser. ;P

This is the danger of knowing someone who has done things like cervical dislocations and surgeries and assorted bloody messes. Completely desensitized. Haha!