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Realism

ralord82276 ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

Realism... to me, as it applies to stories, this does NOT mean real events, people, etc... but instead means that nothing is fantastically different from modern standards... ie no centaurs, no blue skinned aliens, etc.

So, when reading a story that otherwise shows realism, it is jarring to read character descriptions that show little resemblance to reality.

Case in point: MC is described as 6'3", 190 lbs, muscular and ripped from his exercising (100 p/u, 250 s/u, 5-10 mile run, 1/2-1 mile swim daily).

Using my physique as a baseline for reality: at my prime, I was 6'1", 190 lbs, thin and wiry.. certainly not ripped nor muscular. Some seriously thought I looked anorexic.. I had very very low fat reserves...in fact, I barely registered using body fat skinfold measuring devices. I was also constantly borderline dehydrated as I drank nothing but sodas.

4 primary areas control weight: muscle, fat deposits, water retention, and bone density.

Muscle is a lot denser than fat deposits...so for the same weight, muscle will have a leaner look and occupy a smaller area.

Bone density is relatively standard... but you do have outliers that are very delicately boned or very thick-boned.

Water retention is pretty standard (for males, I know that for females it depends on their hormonal balance at the time in addition to any outside influence) unless you are over-watering or dehydrated. The higher your water retention, the more you weigh if all other factors are the same.

So... comparing that MC's description to mine and taking into account the factors involved in weight... I can see absolutely NO way in hell a male could be described that way and only weigh 190 lbs.

In my prime I was 2 inches shorter, same weight, with normal bone density and borderline dehydrated (if I hydrated to normal levels, I would probably have weighed 5-8 lbs more than I did).

The MC is never described as having very delicate bone structure so I assume he had normal bone density. Even if he did have very delicate bone structure, it wouldn't account for the weight disparity...not unless he had hollow bird bones which would not be able to support that amount of muscle mass without collapsing anyway.

IMO for a male with height of 6'3" to be described as ripped and muscular would have to have a weight of 230-240 lbs (or more depending on HOW muscular) to be realistic.

Just a pet peeve of mine really... every time I read a story with a male description like that, it is very jarring because I was constantly harassed/made fun of for how thin I was yet here is a description of a character even taller than me and the same weight that is described as ripped and muscular when the additional 2 inches would have made them appear gaunt and wraithlike. My brain can't come up with a visual that fits the description when I am reading because it goes so against my experience... it is like reading "the water felt dry" and trying to imagine that. I have a very rich imagination and usually can easily visualize anything I am reading...so to have a description come up that gives me a total blank on a visualization is enough to totally throw me off balance while reading a story.

DBActive ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@ralord82276

When I was 18 and slightly over 6' at 185, I was very ripped, muscular and strong.
At 21 and 210 pounds-after discovering beer, pizza and junk food - I was fat and weak. Luckily I recovered from that after college but never regained the condition I was in my teens.

Google "ripped muscular men at 190 pounds" and you find plenty of images of men with your stats. The reason you were skinny were because of genetics and lack of proper exercise.

Replies:   ralord82276
ralord82276 ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@DBActive

I am not saying it isn't possible somewhere somehow... I am saying it is not reflective of normal reality. I was in the military for more than 15 years and we had to do height, weight, and body fat measurements every 6 months when doing our physical fitness evaluations. I have been around thousands of guys being measured. Never once in that time did I see a single individual that would come close to being described as muscular and ripped at that height and weight. If I see a height of 6' or greater and a weight of 190 lbs, my mind visualizes a thin guy with a wiry physique or a normal looking guy (ie no defined muscles). Over 6'2" and 190 lbs and I am visualizing the guy heading towards gaunt. If I see 6'4" and 190lbs, I am visualizing skeletal.

A single inch in height can mean 10-20 lbs difference in weight for the same physique in adult males.

I didn't start looking healthy (ie lost the almost anorexic look) until after I left the military and added 25 lbs. I had previously had defined muscles and let them go by reducing my exercise and workload. However my defined muscles did not make me look "muscular and ripped" because I didn't have much muscle mass. I would be better described as "wiry" or "whipcord lean"...with a heavy emphasis on lean. And this MC in my post was supposed to be 2 inched taller?!

*SMH* I don't know... Like I said, beside my personal physique, I have witnessed thousands of fit males doing height, weight, and body fat measurements over my time in the military. I just can't match what you say or the MC's description with what I have experienced.

Maybe I am wrong on this specific point... but this specific point was the example of the overall problem I was trying to demonstrate. That reading a description in a story that shatters "realism" as far as the reader is concerned can be jarring to the reader. In those cases IMO it would be better to be a bit more vague ie instead of giving exact height/weight numbers, just give the height and the physique description. It was the combination of the height, weight, and physique that threw me for a loop... if it was just height and physique, I would have had no problems whatsoever.
I have had the "realism" jarring effect with other stories and with descriptions of other people/items,... that one was just the easiest one for me to write about because it is in the current story I am reading.

Replies:   DBActive  solitude
DBActive ๐Ÿšซ

@ralord82276

Take a look at Terquavion Smith, an NBA player who's 6'4" and about 160. Does he look anorexic?

ralord82276 ๐Ÿšซ

@DBActive

TBH, I had never heard of him before... and I have trouble believing he is only 160 lbs with that physique and height.

That is 3" taller and 30 lbs lighter than I was... which should make him look skeletal. But he looks more muscular and solid than I did. And yes I was eating healthy (except for my sodas) and exercising daily. I could lift twice my weight, yet I would look like a toothpick next to that guy.

Replies:   DBActive
DBActive ๐Ÿšซ

@ralord82276

What you don't consider:
- he has had professional training specific to the needs of his sport,
- he has had professional nutrition guidance specific to his sport,
- training is different for different sports resulting in different body types,
- different genetic inheritance results in different body types even with training and nutrition.
There are actually NFL amd NBA players at your height and weight. They aren't skinny. Your height and weight is in the range of light heavyweight boxers and MMA fighters who aren't skinny.
This description is more realistic than the bust size descriptions of most women in stories or the seemingly minimum 8 onch penises.

Replies:   Dicrostonyx
Dicrostonyx ๐Ÿšซ

@DBActive

minimum 8 onch penises

I know it's a typo, but I like to think you have coined a new word, here: "onch" The expression of pain evidenced by a woman seeing an 8" penis for the first time.

Replies:   Rodeodoc
Rodeodoc ๐Ÿšซ

@Dicrostonyx

We really need a thumbs up ๐Ÿ‘ button here

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@DBActive

Take a look at Terquavion Smith, an NBA player who's 6'4" and about 160. Does he look anorexic?

No, but he doesn't looked ripped and muscular either.

AJ

Replies:   DBActive  DBActive
DBActive ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Yes, but he is/was 30 lbs less than the op

DBActive ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Maybe the problem is that we have different idea if the term "ripped." It seems to me that you are using it to mean bulked up like a body builder.To me it means toned, defined and visible muscle groups with low body fat.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@DBActive

Maybe the problem is that we have different idea if the term "ripped." It seems to me that you are using it to mean bulked up like a body builder.

I wouldn't go that far - body builders seem to take things to extreme lengths. But to describe someone as ripped, I would expect full body toning, not just the bits necessary to play a sport like basketball. In fact, I would expect someone meeting my definition of ripped would probably be too ponderous for basketball.

AJ

Replies:   DBActive
DBActive ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Then our definitions are different.
With a couple of exceptions with larger guys, I would consider these guys muscular and "ripped."
https://www.muscleprodigy.com/top-50-most-jacked-nba-players/4/
They are not bulked up like gym rats who care only about size not strength. For that matter, to play in the NBA you needed to be very strong, both upper and lower body - probably more than any other sport.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@DBActive

They are not bulked up like gym rats who care only about size not strength.

Actually most of those are, IMO. But then you chose the most ripped, not necessarily the best players. (Not that I'd have a clue who the best players are.)

Obviously Terquavion Smith isn't in that list.

AJ

Replies:   Dominions Son  DBActive
Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Actually most of those are, IMO. But then you chose the most ripped, not necessarily the best players. (Not that I'd have a clue who the best players are.)

Obviously Terquavion Smith isn't in that list.

I will also note that the two lightest guys on that list of ripped NBA players are 180, not 160, pounds. Most of them are over 200.

DBActive ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

No. Actually that list is from a few years ago before he was in the league, but he wouldn't make it anyway.
The point of posting that is that multiple players on the list have height and weight that is about the same as the OP and are very toned and have visible, defined muscles.

solitude ๐Ÿšซ

@ralord82276

IMO it would be better to be a bit more vague ie instead of giving exact height/weight numbers, just give the height and the physique description.

A pet peeve of mine as well. Excess detail implies that somewhere in the story these precise details will be important (I think this is referred to as Chekhov's gun). And it's complicated by conversion issues: I have to convert weights in pounds to kilos - or stones and pounds - to get an appreciation of them. And is 6 foot tall for the society in question, or is it head and shoulders above others? Descriptive terms rather than measurements are more easily absorbed and don't break the narrative flow.

ralord82276 ๐Ÿšซ

@solitude

exactly! Thank You for summarizing for me... I am a rambler apparently... Concise summaries are usually beyond my skills.
lol

Grey Wolf ๐Ÿšซ

@solitude

'Chekhov's Gun' fits, I think, but it's often observed only in the breech.

Taken to an extreme, it removes many sources of surprise from a work. If a gun appears, it will be fired. If a character appears, they will 'matter'. And so on, and so forth.

Life isn't like that. Many things which appear in one's sight never matter.

And, for details, what constitutes 'important'? Let's say it's the stereotypically absurdly detailed breast measurement, for instance. Does that mean the woman will bare her breasts, or is the reader knowing how 'big' she is sufficiently 'important' by itself? That feels like an authorial decision.

If I describe someone's dress, does the dress need to be 'important' in itself, or is simply knowing what she's wearing 'important'? If I say it's 'pink', does the pinkness need to do something beyond be descriptive?

LupusDei ๐Ÿšซ

@solitude

And is 6 foot tall for the society in question, or is it head and shoulders above others?

Or where I live, it's the average height for girls.

Replies:   DBActive
DBActive ๐Ÿšซ

@LupusDei

, that the male (human) penis is not a circulatory system. It's a valve controlled one directional short ended pipe.

What this means in layperson's terms, is that unli

I assume that's a joke (on various sites it's either 5'7" to 5'9") but really all "average height" stats are essentially anecdotal rather than based on actual data.

Replies:   LupusDei  awnlee jawking
LupusDei ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@DBActive

Yeah, it's not quite technically correct statement. The genesis of my "error", it's three part:
1) the not-quite-defendable claim of Latvia as the country of tallest women in the world;
2) personal observation that could be biased by at least two factors (selection and perception);
3) crude rounding error in assuming 6 feet = 180cm while it's almost 183cm and that's a huge difference, especially when talking about averages.

In addition, Russians and most other immigrant or non-native people tend to be shorter. I was also going to claim there's been a perceivable increase of height -- and especially for girls --, in the past thirty years since the independence, but it seems the dataset doing the rounds is a 2019 survey of 19 year old, so that should
be covered.

And then, add the heels to that 5'8" girl and our average 6' guy won't feel tall at all, even if still not looking up in most cases.

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@DBActive

but really all "average height" stats are essentially anecdotal rather than based on actual data.

In the UK, every patient in the country gets their height measured every five years or so by their GP.

That seems like 'actual data' to me.

AJ

Replies:   DBActive
DBActive ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@awnlee jawking

That should have been "accurate," not "actual."
There is a lot of unreliable data.
Even is the height of everyone is regularly measured.
As to the NHS, its height and weight data is based on self-reported information which it adjusts to, possibly, make more accurate.
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/health-survey-for-england/2021/part-4-trends#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20the%20mean%20heights,cm%20and%20162.4cm%2C%20respectively.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@DBActive

As to the NHS, its height and weight data is based on self-reported information which it adjusts to, possibly, make more accurate.

It says 'interviewer measured'. I wonder why they felt the need to introduce a correction factor.

My GP makes me stand, in my stockinged feet, against a measuring chart on the surgery wall.

AJ

Replies:   DBActive
DBActive ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@awnlee jawking

They were self-reported in 2021. From 1993 to 2019 they were interviewer measured by the nurse.
None of the reported heights/weights are based on actual data from NHS physician visits. They were based on a survey of about 5000 households, not all of which participated.
What you describe is not an accurate measurement method.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@DBActive

What you describe is not an accurate measurement method.

That must be the correction factor they mentioned - deduct a millimetre for the thickness of my socks.

AJ

Replies:   DBActive
DBActive ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

There is a standard NHS prescribed method to measuring height, although I can't figure out how anyone can administer it unless they are the same height or taller than the one being measured.

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@ralord82276

MC is described as 6'3", 190 lbs, muscular and ripped from his exercising (100 p/u, 250 s/u, 5-10 mile run, 1/2-1 mile swim daily).

I've just sampled a story (but decided to read no further) in which the lead female is described as 5' tall with very long legs. I'm having a hard time trying to imagine what that might look like.

AJ

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

in which the lead female is described as 5' tall with very long legs. I'm having a hard time trying to imagine what that might look like.

I'm 5'5" and my legs are disproportionately short.
I had to be fitted with an immobilizer (to immobilize the knee joint) once (I was in my 40s at the time.). They had to set me up with a teen immobilizer and even then, the thigh portion of the immobilizer was too long, putting the opening for the knee an inch or two below my knee.

If I stand next to my brother, he is slightly taller. If we sit next to each other, I am slightly taller. If my legs were proportional to my torso, I would probably be close to 5'7" or 5'8"

I would read "described as 5' tall with very long legs"
as describing a short woman with disproportionately long legs. I don't see that as unrealistic, unusual, but not unrealistic.

Visualize a woman who is 4'10" or 4'8" from the pelvis up.

Then visualize a woman who is 5'2 to 5'4" from the pelvis down.

Now put the first woman's torso on the second woman's legs.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

a short woman with disproportionately long legs

While that's true, I got the impression the legs were very long in an absolute sense rather than relative.

AJ

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

I found a website categorising USA women's inside leg measurements! 28" counts as short, 30" as average and 32" as long.

If very long legs are 34" inches, that means for a 5' woman with very long legs, there wouldn't be much more than 2' left for the head, neck and torso.

AJ

Pixy ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

I'm having a hard time trying to imagine what that might look like.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fe/38/8f/fe388f69510c0b66b216d11b0275e6b1.png

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Pixy

A blackcurrant?

You've lost me ... :-(

AJ

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Another one I read this week.

A horny, studly teen male is confronted by a gorgeous, willing teen female. And he asks her to suck his cock to get him hard. WTF!

AJ

Replies:   Marius-6
Marius-6 ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

A horny, studly teen male is confronted by a gorgeous, willing teen female. And he asks her to suck his cock to get him hard. WTF!

Obviously, I don't know which particular story You are referring to. However, many well written and realistic stories here, a virile young man may be intimidated by a beautiful woman. While many teen boys may have their dicks get hard "when the wind blows" they can easily lose that erection if their confidence is shaken.

Even if a guy is acting "cocky" it is possible that he doesn't feel as confident as he is trying to appear. I don't know how good the author of the particular story is, or IF they intent to portray a lack of confidence, or whatever. However, I could find it very realistic that a teenager, no matter how horny, or "studly" might have a flaccid cock in the presence of a "Gorgeous" female!

Replies:   Sarkasmus
Sarkasmus ๐Ÿšซ

@Marius-6

Yeah... I agree. But I still can't shake the feeling that most of these stories are written by people who are either WAY older than the MCs they write, and can't even remember anymore how easily they got hard as teens, or by people who use porn as reference material.

I just can't help it. Every time I read a plot like that, I completely lose the plot and feel like I'm reading the fantasy of someone who has little to no experience to call upon.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Sarkasmus

But I still can't shake the feeling that most of these stories are written by people who are either WAY older than the MCs they write

That was my feeling too.

The MC in the story was a complete slut and displayed no lack of self-confidence.

AJ

Replies:   Pixy
Pixy ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

It should be pointed out, from a biological point, that the male (human) penis is not a circulatory system. It's a valve controlled one directional short ended pipe.

What this means in layperson's terms, is that unlike the rest of the (human male) body, that particular appendage is not 'serviced' by a continual flow of blood. With-out a continual flow of oxygenated fluid carrying antibodies, nutrients and 'other' materials, that flesh is going to necrotise. Which is a fancy word for saying "Your flesh is going to turn black, go gangrenous and drop off."

To get around this somewhat inevitably awkward biological response, the penis has a valve which combined with a CPU yet to be understood by science, decides at what point the necrosis level in the appendage has begun to become a serious risk and in response, and with very little control by the operating system of the CPU, opens the valve and floods the appendage with, quite literarily, life blood. Once the cells have been 'recharged' and the necrotic cells have been washed out, the valve releases and all the contaminated fluid rushes back into the blood stream to be disposed of.

This process can happen at any time with the operating system in any state, including sleep mode or standby as the controls operate outwith of the OS. The process can also be run by the OS in relation to the running of a set program, or set in motion by an outside user interface. It can also be chemically overridden by the usage of a little blue program, however that comes with the possibility of program errors where the code can become scrambled and the whole system hangs. Which is a dangerous situation as the trapped blood, clots, and the necrotising cells are still trapped within, necrotising. This often requires the Ctrl-Alt-Delete of surgical/chemical intervention to release and reset the bugged programming of the valve and return the process to normal running.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Pixy

that particular appendage is not 'serviced' by a continual flow of blood.

I think you'll find that it is. Otherwise the flesh would die and the penis would drop off, just like a puppy dog's tail that's been tied off.

AJ

Replies:   Dominions Son  Pixy
Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@awnlee jawking

I think you'll find that it is. Otherwise the flesh would die and the penis would drop off, just like a puppy dog's tail that's been tied off.

Some castrations in large domestic animals are done that way. A strong rubber band is put around the base of the scrotum until the scrotum an testicles die from lack of blood flow and fall off.

From what I've read, excessively long lasting erections are potentially dangerous for that reason. Yes, it's engorged with blood, but that blood isn't circulating and eventually it runs out of oxygen and nutrients carried by the blood.

This is why ED drugs all come with the warning: "Seek immediate medical help if you experience an erection lasting more than 4 hours."

Replies:   awnlee jawking  DBActive
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

This is why ED drugs all come with the warning: "Seek immediate medical help if you experience an erection lasting more than 4 hours."

Unless you're a character in an erotic story, of course!

AJ

DBActive ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@Dominions Son

What happens is that the arteries in the penis swell and start to constrict the veins and filling the corpora cavernosa. That further constricts the veins.
All that almost cuts off blood circulation in the penis. Keep it up for too long a time and necrosis can start.

Pixy ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

I think you'll find that it is. Otherwise the flesh would die and the penis would drop off

Good to see you read, and understood the passage ๐Ÿ™„

It isn't. That's why I followed it with...

To get around this somewhat inevitably awkward biological response, the penis has a valve which combined with a CPU yet to be understood by science, decides at what point the necrosis level in the appendage has begun to become a serious risk and in response, and with very little control by the operating system of the CPU, opens the valve and floods the appendage with, quite literarily, life blood. Once the cells have been 'recharged' and the necrotic cells have been washed out, the valve releases and all the contaminated fluid rushes back into the blood stream to be disposed of.

Which is why (Biological-better add that these days) males experience erections at any time of the day, in any mental state, in inevitably the most inopportune moments.

As men get older the valve (which is just a muscle) wastes away, along with the rest of the males muscle mass and eventually leaks like the tap in a really old house. Or the taps in a brand new one... That leak makes erection difficult and also bypasses the need for erections in the first place (Well, one of them anyway...)

But to recap, there is no circulatory system. It's a dead end.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Pixy

When you get to your 59th pen name, will it be Pixy LIX?

:-)

AJ

Replies:   Pixy  Radagast
Pixy ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Yes ๐Ÿ˜œ

Replies:   Pixy II Zenobia
Pixy II Zenobia ๐Ÿšซ

@Pixy

Yes ๐Ÿ˜œ

Replies:   ralord82276
ralord82276 ๐Ÿšซ

@Pixy II Zenobia

Let's not forget Pixy Saint 9 .... or Pixy STIX for short...lol

Radagast ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Pen names? I thought they were personalities. There's rational Pixy that posts on the forum and lovecraft Pixy that writes stories.

Replies:   Pixy V Lilith
Pixy V Lilith ๐Ÿšซ

@Radagast

lovecraft Pixy that writes stories

You know, and it annoys me immensely to say this, you might have a point...

Paladin_HGWT ๐Ÿšซ

@ralord82276

Case in point: MC is described as 6'3", 190 lbs, muscular and ripped from his exercising (100 p/u, 250 s/u, 5-10 mile run, 1/2-1 mile swim daily).

At age 19/20 I averaged 6' 185 lb, less than 10.5% body fat, and did 150 = p/u, 75-100 s/u, a dozen or more Pull Ups, and ran 5-10 miles 5 times a week. I was muscular, in particular my legs, with "six-pack" abs, and fit to carry a 27 lb M60 machinegun for 20+ miles, along with a large ruck, etc. I exceeded the maximum allowed weight for my height in the US Army, as did every other soldier in my unit!

We found the US Army Height/Weight standards to be silly! Perhaps a very lean runner or swimmer could meet the standard. Infantry soldiers, in particular Paratroopers, Rangers, etc. needed greater upper body strength to perform our duties.

However, I could see a person, perhaps a male model, or an office worker who was a committed runner or swimmer could easily be "ripped" as in defined and yet functional muscles at 6'3" 190 lb. Football (Soccer) players, or even a rower, and many other people from 16 to 35 could have such a physique.

hst666 ๐Ÿšซ

@ralord82276

skeletal frame size can make a significant difference. Do you know if you have a medium or large frame?

akarge ๐Ÿšซ

@ralord82276

In the Army, I was recorded as 5'6" tall. I still 'self report' at that height.

Yeah, right.

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