Could someone please explain to me what the following look like in the real world:

His eyes flashed.
A blank look in his eyes.
His eyes swirling with anger.
His eyes glowing with anger.
Hurt in his eyes.
His eyes swimming with emotion.
His eyes twinkled.
A glimmer in his eye.
A determined look in his eyes.
Pain in his eyes.
Eyes bright with power.

And so on.

 

Oh no, an English language device used in a fictional story, what are we going to do.

Explain to me what a spell looks like in the real world, or a dementor.

 

This is a very old complaint. No need to reiterate it.

In truth, there are some expressions that do have a real-world model. Movement of the eyelids helps range expression. Then dilation of the iris is a very strong signal. And there are a couple of blue-eyes people I know whose eyes actually seem to grow darker in anger, and other, more intense emotions. Although, of course, that could always be due to the play of shadows... but anyways.

 

It's more poetic than biologically true, but well, what would be life without poetry?

If the author has to make everything believable biologically, respect the laws of Physics for every movement the character makes, fulfil the character's physiological needs such as pissing, shitting, etc; fanfictions wouldn't be as much fun. Magic wouldn't even exist!

 

Even if they did, a person wouldn't be able to notice...

Language device it may be, but it's a crap one. They mean nothing.

Now you're just being anal. These things are clearly described in what they look like. Saying that a person's eyes flashed means nothing, unless we are to actually think that a person's eyes are flashing like a strobe light.

 

Well, a lot of facial expressions are created by the things around the eye (i.e. eyebrows, eyelids, etc.)

But it sounds a lot better to say "Hurt in his eyes." rather than "His eyebrowed furrowed inwards, his lips tightened, and his nose scrunched up just a tad."

See what I mean?


It all comes down to how it sounds. And in this case, the figurative language with the eyes sounds a lot better.

 

Your entitled to your opinion but in my opinion it isn't a 'crap' language device, just an overly used one.

If a story was to consist only of descriptions that hold true in the real world then much of the interest would be gone, and I would find myself doing what I do in stories with dull descriptions, skipping to the dialog.

 

I would think that superior to both would be,

"For a moment, Harry almost thought he could see Luna's pain in her wide eyes, before the moment passed and she began screaming again."

It is accurate: it doesn't say that there was pain in Luna's eyes, just that Harry thought he could see it there, and it works without sounding too scientific. The difference is subtle, but important.

"There was pain in her eyes" is a statement of fact, so unless her eyes are actually hurting it is incorrect.

"He thought he could see pain in her eyes" is a human emotion, and so can be affected by things like the human race's tendency to read emotions and moods from facial expressions. It doesn't actually mean there was pain in her eyes, it means that her face was in an expression of pain, and Harry recognised this and thought of it in his mind as pain being expressed through the eyes.

 

Yes, but sometimes it is better to be concise than completely correct.

 

I think it's a valid way of description. The one that's overused is "Harry's emerald eyes <x>".

 

I just had the greatest idea ever.

In many fics Harry's eyes are described as glowing.

In some fics Harry is a metamorphmagus.

Combine the two, and you have disco-lighting!Harry. It's genius. He could get employment at a variety of clubs just for standing there and strobing. And if any of the Death Eaters were epileptic, then his mere presence would kill them.

In addition:

 

Taure, your idea is...positively genius. Now, you just need to put it into words and post a short ficlet on TGYH.

 

When I read this I always picture the eyelids momentarily widening like when people do when they get angry or annoyed. A very common facial movement and very expressive of a situation. It doesnt mean they really flashed with light. And if it does... its magic. Glowing eyes are shown in many fantasy novels as a sign of great power.

Oh come on have you never seen a blank look? Like when someone is daydreaming and has no real emotion on their face. Again very common, whats the problem?

Ok eyes dont really swirl unless they use the excuse that its magic (Hey Voldemorts eyes turned red and WERE shown to flash red when he was younger) Or maybe people were just using an expression to show great anger... those bastards... trying to show emotion through word... how dare they.

Its canon. When Voldemort went to see Dumbledore for the DADA job his eyes flashed red and same when he went to see the old woman with the Locket and cup. But again it is just an expression used to show strong emotion and hardly something to get worked up about. Eyes have been tied to power for as long as the fantasy genra has been around.

...ah this really does happen. You do realise people do show emotion through facial expressions and their eyes?

A highly emotional moment. Granted when ever I read that I always imagin someone with very watery eyes about to cry... but crying is related to strong emotions so why not use it.

Yeah thats annoying but it is also canon. And we all know how you love rubbing canon in peoples faces.

Used in a lot of literature not just fanfiction.

Again this is a real life thing and not really something you should worry about.

Real.

HP is a fantasy series. Fantasy and power and eyes go together like Vash and 12 year old girls.


The only time that sort of stuff bothers be is when it is used a lot in a single story. But that could be said about just about anything.

 

A lot of your descriptions of how it happens in real life is facial expressions and body language, and not to do with the eyes.

Nothing about the eyes themselves changes...

Eyelids, blank face, a hurt facial expression, tears etc.

 

The problem is that using the eyes is a weak mental image for some people. Although I always make eye contact with people, I rarely pay attention to their eyes themselves, so these descriptions do little for me. It just gives me a cartoony-image in my mind.

That's my only complaint.

Well, and the whole "lol character personalities are defined by eye/hair color" notion. Someone can have black hair and eyes and be cheerful, etc. a blonde haired guy can be moody.

Used sparingly, a good author can make use of the eyes, but, I would not recommend it ever. The only time I'll ever describe the eyes is if the person's blind.

Well, and blinking. Rapid blinking is common enough that the image is pretty simple.

 

Oh come on eyelids, tears and eyes are the same thing. Thats like saying fingers arent part of your hands.

 

That's correct, but most of these expressions involving the eyes are actually facial expressions with little to do with the eyes. The eyes can't express much on their own other than to move the eyelids, cry and move around. What is more visible is the movement of the mouth, forehead, etc.

The mouth might flatten into a thin line and the forehead furrow, but the eyes themselves don't change.

Instead, let the eyes do what they can do and leave the rest to the face. For example, "bottomless blue eyes watched" or "eyes bored into" are possible, but not something like "eyes swirling with anger".

 

Or jade.uke:

I've suffered through cinnamon, chocolate, and various shades of brown for Hermione.

Thank God I've never had to read through a description of Ron's/Ginny's eyes. Something tells me it wouldn't be pretty.

Taure, stop being so anal-retentive. It's a narrative device, period.