[ SECRET POST #2249 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2249 ⌋

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

01.


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02.
[Otoyomegatari]


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03.
[Girls und Panzer]


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04.
[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]


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05.
[Monster High]


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06.
[My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]


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07.
[Jackass 3D]


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08.
[Paranatural]


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09.
[Angelina Jolie]


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10.
[Der Ring des Nibelungen]


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11.
[Mary Shelley's Frankenhole]


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12.
[Medium]


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13.
[The Americans]


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14.
[The Mindy Project]


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15.
[5Dolls, T-ARA]


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16.
[A Good Day To Die Hard]


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17.
[Harry Potter]



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18. http://i45.tinypic.com/2v0bjpd.jpg
[linked for porn, Spartacus: Vengeance]


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 019 secrets from Secret Submission Post #321.
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]

13. http://oi49.tinypic.com/f53g9w.jpg
[The Americans]

[quantumreality]

This is an interesting show to watch; I find it interesting from the perspective of "What were the Soviets doing and thinking in the early 1980s?"

But the romance is nice, too. :)

[(Anonymous)]

Driveby icon love!

[(Anonymous)]

I love that romance trope, too! Must be why I gobble down fics where characters I ship have to pretend to be married, get married accidentally, or marry as part of some kind of cover/convenience.

[othellia]

Same here. I might have to actually check this out now.

*point of the show flies right over head*

[(Anonymous)]

You know that totally IS the point of the show, right?

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed. Everyone involved with it is constantly saying the real appeal is the marriage storyline, and they'd be right. The spy stuff is great (and IMO very realistic compared to other "spy" movies/shows) and so is the political stuff, but the emotional pull to it is the relationship between P & E.

[othellia]

Huh, everything I've heard about so far has been about the spy angle. I think this is the first time I've seen someone talk about any romance. But I'll definitely take your word for it, anon.

[(Anonymous)]

I love this show so much. For the quality, the content, the crazy-awesome wigs - and the shipping/squee potential. No reason is more important or more shallow than the other, as far as I'm concerned.

[quantumreality]

Oh man, the wigs! Especially the way Philip seems to be able to change hairstyles and even face-styles (to some extent) at the drop of a hat! :D

[(Anonymous)]

The long, floppy blond-ish one in the most recent ep (when they were in the car shop) is my new favorite. I LOL'd for a good four or five minutes.

[quantumreality]

Ha! It was SO late-1970s XD

*FLOP* "Forget it. How much do I owe you? I need to get my car now!" *FLOP MOAR*

[astridv]

Haha, I'm partly faceblind and I don't recogize him at first when he's freshly disguised. Same with Elizabeth.

[juiceboxhero]

OP, have you seen the Czech movie Zelary? Based on this secret, you would definitely love it!

Although it does show Soviet soldier at the end of WWII in a less than positive light... so be warned.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for the rec!

And no worries, my family got out of the USSR as refugees. It's been over two and a half decades and a day doesn't go by that my father doesn't curse the soviets.

[visp]

There really isn't enough Russian culture/life in it to qualify for the former reason, IMO. Lots of good Russian language, though.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Yes and no. They aren't showing life in the Soviet Union, of course, but they're getting little things right so far. I want to see how they do flashbacks to life back in the USSR. I'm mostly going on my parents' opinions on things (one thing the show is not accurate about is having the head Russian diplomat with a Polish accent, because they never would have been trusted to hold a position like that), but they seem to be impressed, which is really rare when they see America-made Russian shows or movies.

(Both my parents were incredibly impressed by how plausible they felt the Nina-caviar-smuggling thing was, for some reason. But also I showed my mother a scene or two and she got one look at Elizabeth and said, "Oh yeah, that's the face of a fanatic.")

Re: OP

[visp]

the head Russian diplomat with a Polish accent

I was wondering what that accent was. Although, as far as Soviet things go, I felt the rape was unlikely. Soviets were pretty egalitarian, and it's always a dumb idea to make a policy of pissing off the people you're sending out in deep cover.

Re: OP (TW Rape)

[(Anonymous)]

I waver on the rape thing. I agree with you that it was a very stupid thing to do to a woman that was going to be a priceless asset very soon. But...well, my mother is 20 years younger than Philip and Elizabeth. She's an incredibly intelligent, worldly, and educated woman. And she still goes to a "it's your own fault if you're raped" default she learned as a kid in the USSR. Like, if I talk about date-rape, the first thing she'll say is that you shouldn't be inviting a man into your apartment in the first place. I can see the rape in The Americans being tolerated because Elizabeth was taught to blame herself for being weak if she was raped, and her superiors relied on that attitude being installed in their girls.

Re: OP

[sistermagpie]

I can't speak about Soviet culture at all, but I find it hard to believe that the world's yet produced a culture where the expressed ideals prevent rape. I can just think of so many set ups that I'd think would be in conflict with rape but people find a way to do it anyway.

Re: the intelligence of doing that to a future agent, I imagine that at that point in her career they couldn't really have known that Elizabeth would ever have gone into deep cover. Plenty of people must have flamed out of that program.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

yeaaaah, there are some cultural blinders you're wearing here. Sure, policy/law wise Russia has always been ahead -- early to let women into the arm, to conscript them into reserves forces, early abortion laws, lots of things you could point to.

In the context of societal narrative? "Egalitarian"? Pffff, no, based on what I've seen with my parents and their Russian friends progress on sexism/gender roles is even slower than in North America.

And I think you don't quite understand Russian mentality -- I'm not going to use the word "patriotism" because the connotations are way too positive, but if she was in the position to be put into deep cover, I really doubt she'd have the kind of mindset to fuck that over even after rape.

Re: OP

[quantumreality]

For me, it's more that I don't think it was necessary to introduce it as back story. But maybe the writers felt it was important...?

[sistermagpie]

I think the reason you're probably drawn to the trope in this case is that it's TOTALLY AWESOME AND THE BEST SHOW BECAUSE OF THAT!!!

That show clearly knows that whole set up is the best thing they have.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm having the hardest time getting into this show.

I...just can't sympathize with the Soviet spies! And I'm generally over-empathetic, if anything. I could rattle off twenty shows/movies/books where the most interesting, enjoyable part of it for me is the villain. EASY. So I'm pretty surprised I can't shake off the Cold War attitude here.

I was so happy when the Berlin Wall fell, et cetera, et cetera. But I just want these two to get cauuuuught.

[astridv]

Yes, Americans secret! I like this show and no one on my flist seems to.

I like the mix... the tangled emotional relationships and the spy stuff that feels more realistic than in other shows. 80s politics as a backdrop. Moral shades of grey all over the place! This lack of black-and-white mindset feels so unusual, it's like a breath of fresh air.