[ SECRET POST #6586 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6586 ⌋

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


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 08 secrets from Secret Submission Post #940.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

05. https://i.imgur.com/bbzvTdd.png

[(Anonymous)]

How could that possibly be racist?

[(Anonymous)]

I dunno if this is racist per se, but this comes off as not knowing much about African history or the African continent and the variety therein. Also as not knowing much about Asia, if you think monarchy and European climates were the norm and it didn't have tons and tons and TONS of tribal societies and tropics, with shamans all over the place. The word shaman is literally from Asia...

+1

[(Anonymous)]

idk what's going on with Chinese fantasy at present except that a lot of westernized concepts have really been leaking into it, but most other Asian countries have mythologies that predate even Greek and Roman myths with fascinating pantheons, concepts, and characters, including demigods mapped onto actual historical personages. the first fantasy books were definitely written in China and Japan, before England even existed (Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Tale of Genji). OP throwing Asia as a monolith in with Europe is just weird.

just curious

[(Anonymous)]

Did you read it as them saying Asia and Europe were the same? Or are you saying Asia and Europe shouldn't be referred to as a monolith but should be broken down into specific areas/histories?

ayrt

[(Anonymous)]

I do read the secret as suggesting they like "Asian" "non-tribal/shamanistic" settings along with western european, which is bonkers to me since Asian settings are very different from European and can be, as airt said, tribal and shamanistic. But you do have a point that monoliths should be broken down. I feel like a lot of sword-and-sorcery high fantasy is distinctly English/French based with the barest smattering of Germanic and Renaissance Italian, but almost never Norse, nor Eastern European, not even Spanish. Whether it's the history of the region, its culture however changed or influenced by other cultures, or the mythological bases that underly a lot of fantasy, there's so much to work with everywhere in the world.

But, then, I go back to the secret and OP putting Asian AND Western European fantasy together that leaves me scratching my head, wondering which Asian fantasy they mean.

[(Anonymous)]

da but they specifically said "landscape," which to me indicates the physical setting.

[(Anonymous)]

"I like monarchies and kingdoms in the western and Asian style"
"I don't like tribal settings or shamanistic religions or magic at all"

???

[(Anonymous)]

"I like the landscape of Europe, Britain and Asia more than Africa. IMO, it's just a prettier backdrop for stories."

[(Anonymous)]

Correct. That too was in the secret along with the other parts which you didn't address yet.

[(Anonymous)]

Are shaman figures in Asia much like shaman figures in Africa? I'd love to know some examples in real life or fiction.

[(Anonymous)]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_forms_of_shamanism#Eurasia

[(Anonymous)]

This list doesn't even include places like Thailand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_folklore

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think it is necessarily a racist pov, but I could see how it could be. Could also be subconscious racist bias, which we all have now and then. But I can definitely see why this is a secret because I feel like in a lot of places when you express opinions like that you get dogpiled and accused of racism and/or ignorance.

But I have Opinions on fantasy settings as well (I think we all do). I'll give anything a chance, but my favorites do seem to be more 'traditional' western world types.

[feotakahari]

I lean towards European-derived stuff because it’s been reprocessed so thoroughly it no longer matches any mythology. When someone writes about their people’s gods, I often get the feeling they actually believe this shit, and that’s not fantasy, that’s fucking religious fiction.

Of course, I’d love to see more stories that aren’t based around real-world myths.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, the European stuff is generally reprocessed through a monotheist Christian lens, in very dull ways, so I don't see how that's any more interesting?

[feotakahari]

Just look at Etrian Odyssey. That’s European-derived via the Japanese fandom for the Wizardry games, but it’s been so mangled in passing from Europe to America to Japan that it’s no longer religious.

ETA: there is no god, only Ragelope.

[(Anonymous)]

(DA) it sounds like the "mangling in passing" is what gets it to the state you prefer, then, not the origin of the original content itself.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm really surprised that you seem to think that European-derived stuff doesn't match Christianity. Or is it that you think fantasy authors are atheists? This is honestly more racist than anything else, your assumption that when Other People do it, it's religious fiction, but it's fine when it's European because obviously it's fantasy.

[feotakahari]

Christian authors aren’t exactly subtle about it.

[(Anonymous)]

Don't know about racist, but African landscapes are fucking beautiful. And this oversaturated art absolutely isn't. Well, that is subjective of course.
But your secret is a bit of a mess - Asian, what Asian, shamans, what shamans.

[(Anonymous)]

There's a lot of Africa with a lot of landscape. Agreed, it's kind of a weird take.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, lol. I mean tastes are subjective, but I'd love to go to central Africa to see the landscapes. They have very beautiful colours and open spaces.
Africa also have big beautiful cities: like in Morocco, casablanca, or even Aleppo before all the destruction. And Egypt!
Granted, they don't have big "medieval" cities in central Africa, but some old settlements are simply breathtaking.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT
I find Namibia's landscape so fascinating. (As someone who managed to get heat exhaustion in Italy in November with fever and everhthing, I am probably instantly dying there, but they are beautiful.) But Africa's landscapes and cities are so deverse! Also how can you look at Nigerian architecture and find it uninteresting!

[(Anonymous)]

It's great to like what you like!

Doesn't seem like you're popping up in fantasy discussions like "Stories set in African-ish settings are inherently uninteresting to me" or "All African-ish societies are like this, and I find them uninteresting" which might spark some heat. I can see why you'd want to keep these feelings secret.

In general: enjoy enjoying things, avoid putting things down even if you don't prefer them, and when looking for recs ask for what you *want* (castles, monarchies, LotR influence, whatever) and not what you don't want.