I keep running into writers describing characters' eyes as "impossibly [colour]" which, like, if that is the colour which they are then ... it's not impossible...? That doesn't make any sense? Do they just mean that they are very [colour]? Or that they are an unusual or unnatural shade of [colour]? (And if that's what they mean, then why don't they just say that?)
I want to say that I've encountered that in a way I liked before, but it was more in the sense of like... sensory overload. A descriptive intense detail for when everything is too bright and MUCH. When it's just part of a generally-smitten thing, it's not my favorite, because I've seen so many people do the thing. And also because some writers jump to the smitten emotional point before I'm ready to believe it, now that I think of it. That might be more of an issue to me than the phrase itself.
People irl that would describe this way: Cillian Murphy because holy SHIT that blue slaps me in the face every time.
When I use impossibly, if I do, it's because the detail has so struck the viewpoint character that they are, in a way, awestruck. It's a very particular and not entirely literal intensifier. It has its purposes. I find the use of it somewhat out of place many times with fic. But I do really like the word when it's used right. Because I've felt that way, in many fashions. Whether it's my being smitten or hopelessly frustrated or overwhelmed sensation wise. I feel very big constantly. Sometimes to seemingly impossible degrees. So why not use impossibly when I nees to get that idea across?
I usually roll my eyes at it as I do at a lot of Generic Fanfic Romance Prose(TM), but one time I bought it was when Unpretty used it to describe Superman from Lois's perspective. Or maybe it was Clark without his glasses. But either way, I was willing to accept it because he's literally an alien, and "eyes outside the normal human color range" was implied to be a tell for that.
So ... what I'm getting is that "impossibly" isn't meant as a description of the thing it looks like it's describing (unless it's describing Superman), but rather is a way of getting across of how the thing in question strikes the narrator/viewer/what have you? Huh. I guess I can see that.
pros of this fic i just read: -wingfic -hurt/comfort -small fandom so at least it's something cons of this fic: -they don't put punctuation at the end of their dialogue -only like 800 words -they don't put punctuation at the end of their dialogue absolutely maddening.
I just…need to share this: Spoiler: nsfw, though it's hard to tell The whole fic is written that way. (And the canon is a silly buddy-cop movie from the 80s. Tone? What is that?)
what the fuck i...don't actually know what they're trying to say there. something about dicks, probably?
I'm about 80% sure it means "He had an erection", but that's only extrapolating from context. Theoretically it could mean "He was riding a T-Rex". Oh, the fic also features a Native American character with ~magic spirit powers~, really inappropriately flowery declarations of love, and an entire paragraph spent describing a guy's mustache.
the only fandom where it's appropriate to spend a full paragraph describing a mustache is Dragon Age: Inquisition. (Dorian would probably suggest more like a full essay with citations devoted to it, really.)
From the same fic: Spoiler: also nsfw, still incomprehensible Translation: "He had an orgasm". I'm not opposed to metaphor or poetry by any means, but this is…not that. And it goes on that way for 42,000+ words.
What's not to understand? Eh! Steve's mouth exploded the universe, and that blond guy did a tiny, tiny dance.
