[ SECRET POST #3324 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3324 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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03.
[Dishonored]


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04. [tb #3]
[One Piece]


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05.
[Kung Fu Panda]


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06.


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07.


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08.


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09.
[Music video: Poets of the Fall, "Daze" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE)]


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10.
[Digimon Tri]


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11.
(Pokémon)


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12.















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 039 secrets from Secret Submission Post #475.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Jesus fucking christ.

There's only so much suspending of disbelief I can do. And if I'm ALREADY asked to suspend it for fantasy elements (ESPECIALLY fantasy elements in a real world setting) everything else needs to be above board. And yeah, "there was that one woman who killed a shit ton of Nazis before dying!" but she was the exception, not the fucking rule.

[(Anonymous)]

Stop being so bad at imagining things.

I'm serious. Get better at it. Your imagination is too weak.

[(Anonymous)]

My imagination is fine. It's just different from yours. There's nothing wrong wanting or even needing a dose of realism in your fantasy.

[(Anonymous)]

Read history if you want realism.

[(Anonymous)]

Except it's never shitting yourself to death with cholera, massive smallpox scars and tremendous infant mortality rates. It's always male violence and white people.

[(Anonymous)]

I wish this were Reddit so I could gild this comment.

[bio_obscura]

HA! Bless this comment.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree, that was my problem with GoT. It's supposed to be super-dark, but there's no one dying randomly of curable diseases. It struck me as totally....fake.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree with realism in fantasy! Which is why women and POC should be far more represented and doing a far more diverse number of things than currently appears in your average, white-washed male-dominated fantasy. :) Signed, a historian

[(Anonymous)]

So... having women killing a bunch of people is where your imagination draws the line, huh?

Even though killer women have existed throughout history. They exist. They are a thing. But you can suspend your disbelief enough to imagine that.

yeah man I think the problem is you

[(Anonymous)]

+100

[a_potato]

Let's say it's not a real world setting. What is it about the idea of a society that, say, either isn't or is less sexist so difficult to believe that you absolutely cannot buy it? Do you think there's something about humans that makes that sort of society impossible?

[(Anonymous)]

Obviously, outside of real world settings it's more believable. But whenever anyone says "men (in general) are stronger/have more physicality than women" people always bust out that one female friend they know who could kick every guy's ass all the time.

And sure, have that one friend running around with guys. Maybe even two. But when you're dealing with the army of female soldiers who all kick ass and take names against enemies 3 times their size -- unless your setting is so fantastic that the generalities of RL physicality no longer apply, and in which case it needs to be made abundantly clear that the story isn't basically "normal" people in an abnormal world -- it stretches credibility.

And it's okay to want to some credibility or realism in your fiction. "Read nonfiction!" and "get a better imagination!!" is such a whiny bullshit answer to people who don't want the same thing as you. The general you (ie anons above) not you specifically.

[a_potato]

Three things:

First, I don't think we're necessarily talking about strength. We're talking about opportunity and power. The fact that women tend to not be as strong as men doesn't necessarily preclude them being leaders or having power in areas where strength is not an issue.

Second, I don't think we're necessarily talking about women being fighters. People take issue with the existing paradigm because it positions women as mothers, servants, homemakers, damsels in distress, and victims of violence and rape. A writer doesn't have to create an all- or mostly-female combat unit to avoid slotting female characters into those categories.

Third, I would ask why credibility and realism hinge on this. When it comes to fantasy, what is the dividing line?

[(Anonymous)]

It's not "the hinge" it's an aspect. I'd feel the same way if it were an entire ensemble of vegans or a squad of obese people. The dividing line is the shit ton of drastically unreal situations coupled with the treatment of lesser inaccuracies being treated as if they are accurate.

I'm not so sure what's so hard about the concept of "if you're going to ask me to believe X, don't also ask me to believe Y."

[a_potato]

What are these lesser inaccuracies?

Also, the problem with "if you're going to ask me to believe X, don't also ask me to believe Y" is that you seem to be saying, "don't ask me to believe that women can do things." I've noted how women are typically presented as mothers, servants, and victims, and you've not only declined to address that, but commented to the effect that it would seem as if it's difficult for you to believe women could be anything else.

[(Anonymous)]

But a lot of fantasy isn't about "normal people?" And when it is, it's often about Everyman, or the Chosen One who must be trained to their full potential and has never even picked up a sword before their village burned down. So, like, Frodo and Luke Skywalker. Neither of them had to be white, male, or have bulgy sacks o' muscles for their stories to make sense. I've never actually read or seen a fantasy setting where "pretty much all women are stronger than pretty much every guy" is a thing. I have seen "whites didn't end up with all the power and are mostly equal or subserviant to POC," but that's just alternate history with maybe some magic thrown in.

[(Anonymous)]

Do you also feel its unrealistic that male heroes in fantasy are always huge muscular beefcakes who look like they live at a gym, and are also unrealistically capable of fighting mythical beasts a hundred times bigger than them, as well as grasping off ledges with their fingertips, punching holes in walls, breaking chains, diving off buildings from ridiculous heights (and other Assassin's Creed-level "physics") - basically, absurdly unrealistically strong men which account for 99.99% of leading male characters in fantasy?

Or does it just bother you when a woman is also pictured as strong?

[(Anonymous)]

Your wording is bad. Men on average have more muscle mass and physical strength than women. Key word is, on average. It's not some shocking exception when a woman is stronger than a man. That is perfectly normal. The "default man" is not stronger than the "default woman". It's only a matter of averages.

Also, I wonder if you're so shocked when Bruce Lee or other shorter, more slender Asian martial artist destroys bigger guys in combat?

[(Anonymous)]

Shocked that it happens? No, because I know guys like Bruce Lee exist. Would I be shocked if it happened all the time? Yes, yes I would.

[feotakahari]

This would make more sense to me if fantasy novels weren't so full of men who're the exception to all kinds of rules. I don't think anyone could seriously argue that Drizzt Do'Urden is a realistic or believable character.

[kallanda_lee]

In case that is not tongue-in-cheek, there's actually a lot of women who killed Nazi's - they just weren't soldiers.There was a very active resistance in a lot of Europe, and women were actively recruited.

[(Anonymous)]

There were also army personnel and pilots, given things like the British Auxiliary Territorial Service (not allowed in combat, but things like anti-aircraft gunners were okay) and the Russian Night Witches (bomber pilots in obsolete aircraft that German planes were literally too fast to stop anymore).

[cactuspaws]

whoa dude, calm thy mammaries.

maybe you should try reading about some actual real life history set in the real life world.

[(Anonymous)]

So you have a small mind, that's your problem. Stop demanding to be catered to 24/7