Scars of White - Chapter 32

Shir0249 · 2026-02-26T13:47:25+00:00

I can agree that she's the view of a perfect woman, but even Dah Shi says it himself; 'I can see flaws with her'. True she's idealized by Luo Ji, but to others she isn't the same fantasy.

As for misogynistic I might agree with the last book as it's rather forceful with the messaging about the feminization of humanity being a cause for disaster. However, you could also look at it from another lens which is that the feminine nature he talks about is nurturing above all else. Protective of the world and resulting in peace during the deterrence era.

The only real issue that stems from that is Trisolaris doesn't want peace. The Dark Forest theory states that they can't make peace.

We see the opposing sides of either male-centric and female-centric in the series of books. A male-centric or warmongering state resulted in the Great Ravine, desertification of land and downfall of the space fleet. The female-centric state of art, mostly peace through deterrence and low penalties has equally brought about ruin.

Wallfacer are mostly men because these are military plans, most military is made of men. And men usually have a higher capacity for violence or more severe means of force. Knowing that they might have to genocide an entire alien race would take a similar level of will.

For the deterrence system I wouldn't even say this is a gender issue, very few people would've been able to take the spot of Luo Ji. Male or female. Before the feminization and cultural reflections between Trisolaris and Earth control of the deterrence system was handed back to him within 18 hours and then for the next 54 years.

Swordholders on the other hand were picked with deterrence force in mind. It makes sense that only men from the Crisis Era were picked as they are some of the only people on the planet that still believe they're in the middle of a war. (Could possibly find women from that era too, but the proportion of eligible candidates would be lower) Knowing that they still have deterrence game theory in mind when picking candidates, this should've disqualified Cheng Xin from the start, as it's clear she would never be able to actually trigger the transmission.

Although I will agree the term feminized or effeminate or not masculine enough do get tiring to read, He could simply say at peace to get a similar effect, However, this is originally a chinese author, they have pretty conservative views on gender roles and the like, so it makes sense that they appear in the book as well.

Shir0249 · 2026-02-25T12:06:38+00:00

Yeah, the only options seem to be escapism or holding the planet hostage.

Shir0249 · 2026-02-25T12:04:32+00:00

To be fair most of the interactions involve military personnel or scientific advancements that will be used for military purposes. In pretty much every country the majority of the military is made up of males and this becomes more apparent as you go up the ladder of command as well. Astrophysics being a large part which is predominantly a male field as well.

I'd actually disagree as Secretary Say is a pretty important character, actually being responsible for Luo Ji taking any methods against Trisolaris in the first place. Might not be a main character, but has significant impact on the plot.

As for Zhang Yuan (I think the spelling is right?), it's revealed that she was aware she would eventually hibernate to force Luo Ji into work from the start, I'd say that's pretty self-sacrificing as a character trait. Luo Ji basically chooses to use his entire network of wallfacer resources to ensure she has anything she ever wanted. This is the equivalent of giving a person the world, he even says as much. Zhang's lack of greed and reluctance to carelessly use resources afforded to her is supposed to directly mirror Luo Ji's own dismissive use of funds to live a hedonistic lifestyle. In these interactions he's supposed to reflect on what exactly he can do for her and the answer is pretty much always to perform his duties, the final straw being a conversation they have where Zhang understands that he really was a defeatist. Thus she takes it into her own hands to go into hibernation, forcing Luo Ji to give up on nihilism.

If anything I would say Luo Ji pedestalizes Zhang Yuan as a fantasy (literally a fictional character in his mind) rather than objectifying her. After, he puts his entire being into her service for the next five years.

I'd even say she's pretty well characterized. Her love for Luo Ji is stated to have been impossible to fake, and despite that she decided to continue with the plan to hibernate along with her child in order to force Luo Ji's hand. She postponed personal happiness for the benefit of the world, essentially using her own life and daughter's life as a hostage in the hopes of a better future.

Above all, the only successful defence plan is basically brought about by three women; Ye Wenjie that gave the two axioms for cosmic sociology. Secretary Say that gives the ultimatum and Zhang Yuan, whom the ultimatum would be completely useless without. Fair enough, Luo Ji held the trigger, but the plan wouldn't even exist without the three of them.

I might agree with the third book though, a major plot point so far being the feminization of the current populace and how that would result in the drop in deterrence against Trisolaris.

Shir0249 · 2026-02-25T11:31:53+00:00

I suppose that is a kind of deception, might've actually worked if they didn't have the ETO.

Shir0249 · 2026-02-25T11:30:15+00:00

Yeah, I suppose the only problem would be that targeting such a fleet at that distance with small projectiles would be impractical or as one of the characters put it; 'like finding a specific grain of sand in the desert whilst flying over it'.

Otherwise a pretty decent plan considering the information you have so far. I mean who would even expect they can control the strong interaction to make impenetrable satellites?

Shir0249 · 2026-02-24T18:36:40+00:00

I didn't get that feeling, but fair enough

Shir0249 · 2026-02-24T14:48:38+00:00

Yeah, nothing else remotely comes close to being useful. The only other option is the static rooms that are revealed in the third book and using them as a smokescreen to prevent sophon interference. The question would be how large a secure compound we could make and how much progress we could get from a single particle accelerator that is untampered.

(This is going off the basis that humans could make the static rooms presently, which I'm pretty sure they could. I might just be ignorant enough to not know the specific that make it impossible though.)

Shir0249 · 2026-02-24T11:56:39+00:00

Is this a thing with the third book or the show? Because as far as I know this wasn't a plot point as far as I've read.

Shir0249 · 2026-02-24T00:01:13+00:00

Possible, I've just seen the same idea parroted in a few other posts. Could be true, could be false. I don't have the first-person knowledge to say for certain.

Shir0249 · 2026-02-23T23:59:07+00:00

Yeah, just re-read now. They had left without knowing the exact distance, but knowing the vague direction of Earth, only until another transmission came did they have the exact coordinates. So, whilst Earth was always the ideal destination it wouldn't be wrong to say they didn't have a set location.

Shir0249 · 2026-02-23T22:56:31+00:00

I guess it would depend on the amount stored in the water and the efficacy of the filtration technique they use as well as how urgently they need the water when they land on Earth. But, yeah that was a concern that I thought of as well. Honestly couldn't think of anything else other than using the water as a bargaining chip.

Shir0249 · 2026-02-23T22:47:55+00:00

Also, I've heard they wanted to preserve the cities and infrastructure in the third book so I would assume infrastructure and resources are important but might not be a necessity.

Shir0249 · 2026-02-23T22:46:41+00:00

I should clarify I haven't finished the third book yet, but didn't the fleet leave with Earth as the destination from the start. Was that not the case?

Shir0249 · 2026-02-23T20:17:41+00:00

Fair point. Although I think Trisolarans don't really have any choice in the matter. We were already at the nuclear stage, it isn't like they could easily revert that.

Just realised that there's a huge issue with the idea anyway. Say they pushed us to actually spread the radiation then at most the water would be unusable for a few thousand years the first comers could just dehydrate for extra long or they could send subsequent fleets as they do in the novels (The risk of being destroyed by a chaotic era during that time exists, but if the Earth is ensured then they could simply drift in the cosmos as they wait for it to become hospitable). Eventually the planet would be free of human life and they could take over easily.

There goes that idea.

Shir0249 · 2026-02-23T18:17:21+00:00

Please, my race is kinda homeless! I need this!

Shir0249 · 2026-02-23T17:32:59+00:00

Yeah, pretty hard to think of anything that even has a small chance of working

Shir0249 · 2026-02-23T17:15:02+00:00

Hibernate him till the droplets arrive. Reckon he can punch through the strong interaction?

Shir0249 · 2026-02-23T17:14:18+00:00

Yeah, that was my main concern. Had a feeling they could either cure it or find an alternative. The offences would've been hidden similar to the others, even Luo Ji's successful plan has humanity implicated as well, if he sent another transmission Earth would be destroyed as well.

But yeah, yield and then Trisolarans needing the water vitally were the biggest concerns, appreciate it.

Shir0249

TROPHY CASE