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Alyzon Whitestarr - Essence Smells

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AxeinGuanette

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11 years ago

Sun Apr 29 2012, 12:05pm
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AxeinGuanette

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11 years ago
WARNING: SPOILERS ARE NOT MARKED IN THIS POST AND THERE IS A LOT OF CITATION. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Yesterday and the day before I was re-reading Alyzon Whitestarr, after the first time three years ago. It still remains one of (if not) my favourite books.

It occured to me that Alyzon's essence smell might be lavender.

In the book, neither Alyzon or anybody else knew what her essence smell was. Lavender was pinned down as one belonging to Harrison, as well as ceddar wood and pine needles (chapter 15, when they met). However, it seemed to fluctuate much like the transient smells that represented feelings. It appeared every time Alyzon noted his smell, for example, at the restaraunt after Gilly's place was burned down (chapter 26), before she went to spy at the warehouses (chapter 41) and of course toward the end (chapter 45).

What I'm particuarly interested in, however, is just before Alyzon went to spy at the warehouses. Here is the quote:

I shucked off my backpack and handed it to Harrison. 'Dinnae do anything stupid,' he said brusquely, but there was anxiety in his eyes and for a moment the smell of lavender was overpowering.

Here, Harrison's emotions flared. However, despite the anxiety mentioned, I'm inclined to think that lavender is not the smell of it for two reasons: a) it is frequent even when he isn't in a pressing situation and b) anxiety is usually represented as a smell that is either bad or neither good or bad, such as ammonia on Macoll (noted chapter 4 and 6) and seaweed for Gilly (noted, but not first noted, chapter 26).

It gave me the notion that perhaps Harrison gave off the lavender smell when he was thinking about Alyzon. or that it could be a signal of how he felt about her. We know from Raoul that when one person is in love with another, the person they are in love with's smell can be mixed in with theirs (chapter 15).

This draws me to the conclusion that in theory, lavender is Alyzon's essence smell.

There's not enough evidence to actually prove it, but I thought it was a nice concept.

Any thoughts?
Zieria

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11 years ago
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Zieria

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11 years ago
That theory makes a lot of sense! I really like your reasoning for why lavender could be Alyzon's essence smell. It's almost like their essences could respond to one another, and his essence reaches out to hers using her essence smell. I like it. :)
Bibliophile

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11 years ago
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Bibliophile

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11 years ago
I agree with your theory too, good work at picking up on the references. Lavender also seems to suit Alyzon's personality. It has fairly small 'quiet' blooms but a strong scent that last's a long time.
kaylanr

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11 years ago
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kaylanr

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11 years ago
Alyzon Whitestarr is one of my favourite books! I think your theory makes a lot of sense. I like your thoughts that people give off scents as responses to feelings they have for other people, and it makes sense that people would produce someone elses smell when they are thinking of someone. In that case, does that mean Serenity was thinking of the people who were manipulating her when she smelled bad?
Soulweaver

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11 years ago
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Soulweaver

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11 years ago
I 100% agree, actually I had thought the same thing.
I think the result of Serenity's bad smell isn't from thinking of the bad people she was with but due to her being prepared to be infected. The person has to be damaged emotionally and mentally before that can happen (I think). The reason why (in my reasoning) that Serenity's smell changes is due to the stage that her "damage" is at... OMG im not saying this right >P<
What I mean is I think she smells more like violet the closer she is to being her old self and she smells awful when the emotional turmoil is getting the best of her. Yay
[act]Hi fives oneself[/act]
Sionainn

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11 years ago
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Sionainn

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11 years ago
That's actually pretty interesting. I must admit I didn't read it that way but it has been ahwile since I read Alyzon. Stuff to muse over upon the reread, methinks.

I still kinda really like the smell of people effecting each other's though--reminds me how girls who are close often have their periods sync up. Sorry for the analogy :P but it seems like a kind of sign of people being close and influencing one another and the like so, subtley, they change to match one another. It's a very instinctual thing. Like how people often even imitate each other's body language and gestures when they first meet if they like each other. :nods:

(Sorry rambling and slightly in a rush).
kaylanr

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11 years ago

Mon Sep 17 2012, 09:08pm
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kaylanr

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11 years ago
I was prompted by this discussion to look up smelling disorders!

Definition:
Smelling disorders are disturbances of the olfactory sense, which is known as the sense of smell. These nasal dysfunctions range from the total loss of smell (anosmia) to dysosmia, a distorted sense of smell.

Types of smelling disorders:
Smelling disorders differ in the way that the sense of smell is affected and how long a person has the disorder. For example, anosmia, the loss of the sense of smell, is often a temporary symptom of a cold or flu. However, a head injury could cause permanent anosmia. In addition, a head injury could produce dysosmia, the distorted sense of smell that could cause a person to hallucinate a foul odor.

Smelling disorders are categorized as:
Anosmia, the loss of the sense of smell. It is the most common smelling disorder. This condition can be temporary or permanent.
Dysosmia is a distorted sense of smell. A person senses non-existent unpleasant odors. It can be caused by medical and mental conditions.
Hyperosmia is an increased sensitivity to smell. It can be a characteristic of someone with a neurotic or histrionic personality.
Hyposmia is the diminished sense of smell. This is usually a temporary condition that a person may experience after a case of acute influenza. Sometimes this condition is referred to as partial anosmia.
Presbyosmia refers to the lessening or loss of the olfactory sense that occurs when a person ages.

Do you think Alyzon has a type of Dysosmia disorder or just a latent talent suddenly brought to life after her accident?
AxeinGuanette

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11 years ago
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AxeinGuanette

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11 years ago
[act]pops back into the thread like a good host should, but hasn't[/act]

I love the theories! Keep 'em coming :P

It's an interesting thought about whether Serenity was thinking about somebody else to change her essence smell - I'd never thought of it like that before. It's almost as if it was trying to imitate the rotting smell that the illness had, but because the illness is unnatural and on a completely different level to essence smells - they express the spirit of creatures while it in itself is a living thing - it wouldn't be quite able to replicate it. And if you think about it, even the more unpleasant smells in the book didn't have as much of an effect on Alyzon as the rotting sickness did. In that case, why licorice (spelling fail right there :P )? Because even though a lot of people hate it, many love it, myself included, and it's not as if it smells particuarly bad...

However, up until now I'd just thought of it as a reflection of Serenity's changing personality, rather than something as isolated as emotional turmoil. Although if her old self was still part of her to come out on occasion, then perhaps my logic is a little flimsy.

Essence smells reaching out to each other...I like it. And not only subconsciously, but consciously too - for those who are aware, anyway. Perhaps the reason that Alyzon was able to reach out to her father with her warm feelings when he was in a depressed state (though I don't remember which part of the book, and I don't have a copy on me at the moment) was a result on doing it instinctively for her whole life, particuarly after Serenity's change to Sybl and the stress that brought to the family. It was by no means subtle - even Macoll who is not aware of the essece smells noticed it - but a bigger, more forceful effect drained Alyzon significantly.

And smelling disorders! I think it's actually quite interesting. Alyzon definitely had hyperosmia, even without being able to detect essence smells. Although dysosmia, I'll think about that. Since it's specific smells, not just bad, and associated with different things that react to stimulus undetectable to the other six senses, perhaps not...

But this talk about hyperosmia - even though I said before that Alyzon definitely has it, I take that back now. Because what if not only living creatures, but objects also give off essence smells? Not just the strange, alien rockness that a rock has, but a specific smell. But an apple's essence smell might be that of an apple, so then it would just seem to be an amplified smell and not an essence smell.

Food for thought.
Soulweaver

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11 years ago
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11 years ago
I just love reading everyones theories!! Gives me soo much more motivation to think about things in depth lol.

I definatly think that people's essence smell can rub off on someone particularly if they are close ( and really who's closer to you then the one who you love and are loved by?) I think the evidence you have stated Axe is really enough for me to agree with you, in fact I thought the same thing but hadn't thought it out as well as you lol.

I'm not sure if I agree with a smelling disorder, particularly due to Alyzon's theory of it being a part of evolution pg99 I'm inclined to go in that direction especially when she comunicates with Wombat, the Whitestarr's cat. He gives off scents to tell Alyzon that he is hungry pg50

Although it is an excellent theory and one I would never have thought of myself :rolling:

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