Comment on The Scent of a Soulmate

  1. "Doubtful" Guest (Guest) on Chapter 3 Fri 06 Jun 2025 09:18PM UTC

    Just dawned on me that if Athos normally stinks to high heaven, but he is one of Louis and Anne personal guard, the two of them most certainly aren't soulmates -otherwise they could not countenance smelling a bodyguard who doesn't bathe from one week to the next.

    Very enjoyable story, many thanks.

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    1. DoraTLG on Chapter 3 Sat 07 Jun 2025 07:15AM UTC

      Wow, you guessed that right! But to be honest, Athos doesn't actually stink that badly, maybe I didn't make that clear. First of all, in this world, most people can't smell, so it's not that unusual for people to stink, and there is less overall judgement about that from those who can smell because they also lived a portion of their life without that ability. Athos showers semi regularly, at least twice a week, because he also needs to wash his hair and he's rationally aware of the importance of not stinking to high heavens. He stinks about the same amount as most people in this universe, Porthos just hates how he smells :D which is based on how my mum can say I stink right after I took a shower. She says my sweat is really intense. But I've had people tell me I smell nice after a three day journey without a shower and in old clothes. So I'm guessing some people just react to my natural odour differently.
      But also... imagine not being able to smell anything. Not knowing that you need to air out your room or house unless it's hot inside. Not knowing when your clothes need a wash unless they're stained. I can confidently tell you that air is exactly the same inside the dirtiest public toilet as it is in a lavender field when you can't smell. So of course Athos would feel depressed when he could suddenly smell the years of neglect on everything he owns.

      Anyway, really astute observation about Louis and Anne!

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      1. "Doubtful" Guest (Guest) on Chapter 3 Sat 07 Jun 2025 04:54PM UTC

        So sorry, I did not mean to appear judgmental, I was only using Athos' own reaction to his new found sense of smell in describing his body scent. Have you read Ed Yong's An Immense World, wherein he spends some pages discussing how humans tend to rank their sense of vision far above their sense of smell and thus rank every other creature's sense abilities similarly - prizing eagle eyes above canine noses?

        Many thanks for this entertaining story!

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        1. DoraTLG on Chapter 3 Sat 07 Jun 2025 09:39PM UTC

          Don't worry, you didn't appear judgemental :) I'll try to adjust the way I write about him to make myself clearer, so your comment was helpful :) and I haven't read that but it's not surprising. People tend to really downplay smell, even though it affects so much more than just your nose.

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      3. Avdotia on Chapter 3 Sat 07 Jun 2025 04:56PM UTC

        Sorry, I wasn't even going to comment, because I usually only comment on works that are finished, but: with regard to yoir Mom and you - people with very close DNA usually cannot stand the small of each other’s skin/sweat, which apparently is an evolutionary mechanism against developing incestuous relationships (general inability to fall in love with someone if you absolutely hate how they smell). I cannot stand the way one of my sisters smells, which I suspect is that. There is nothing to be done about it, it's not about the actual smell but about how it is being recepted by the other person.

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        1. DoraTLG on Chapter 3 Sat 07 Jun 2025 09:35PM UTC

          Wow, that is fascinating! Thank you for telling me.

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