Pixel Scroll 10/6/16 Have Fun Storming The Pixels!

(1) MCCARTY REMEMBERS HARRISON. Dave McCarty pays tribute to his friend Howard Harrison, who passed away October 5, by retelling the experience of running the 1999 Capricon.

…I asked what if we weren’t actually throwing *Capricon*?  What if instead, we were holding the annual meeting of the International Order of Villains?  We treat the whole convention like it is some *other* event?  Tracy asked me why that would be and then I hit her with the nefarious money plan.  You see, if it’s a conference like that, when folks sign up, they would tell the convention organizers which kind of villain they were…be it henchmen, lackey, minion, mad scientist, Igor, etc.  We could badge each of those groups differently so you’d know who was who.  The kicker was that you could also choose to register as an Evil Overlord, but this would be a premium membership for which you would need to pay more money.  If you wanted to be an Evil Overlord, you had to pay.  We could work out getting them some tokens and souvenirs for it, but as long as we only spent a couple bucks on that, we were still helping the convention.  The idea excited me and it excited Tracy, so we shared it with a few other folks and it universally got folks excited and worked up….

From that point on we were in a world we’d never anticipated.  We got no small number of people to pay us extra money to be an Evil Overlord and boy howdy did that help us, but holy hell did it make for a convention that’s hard to forget.  See, quite a number of the Evil Overlords were going around the convention recruiting minions, henchmen, and lackeys to their cause.  Even more brilliantly, Howard Harrison was spending almost all of the time he wasn’t in the filk room going around and organizing the Union of Minions, Henchmen, and Lackeys Local 302.  When I asked him why, he told me (in his best Chicago Superfan imitation) “You see, I know that I am going to die in a fiery explosion, or be thrown into a volcano, or just act as fodder for my bosses escape.  I need to know what’s going to happen for my family!“.  These conversations and all the recruiting brought me to freaking tears.  Our whole convention was a LARP and almost everyone was playing and nobody was having a bad time or feeling pressured to participate.  Howard even invented the UMHL salute.  Take your right hand and make a tight thumbs-up, then flip it upside down (thumbs down).  Now, place  your knuckles against your temple in salute fashion.  There you go, union salute!  Howard then took his unionized brothers and sisters and started approaching the Evil Overlords to inquire about benefits and insurance and post-death family care to get his folks the best deal he could….

…At the time, I told him how brilliant he was…but over the years, his playfulness that weekend grew to mean a lot more to me and I don’t think I ever really got to tell him what that grew into for me.  I’m sad that I can’t do that with him now, but I *can* share this story with all of you so that you know what a special guy he was.

(2) MAGIC IN SNORE-TH AMERICA. If you bet against J.K. Rowling writing magical history that’s as dusty and dull as regular history is reputed to be – you lost. New at Pottermore, “The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA)”.

The Magical Congress of the United States of America, known to American witches and wizards by the abbreviation MACUSA (commonly pronounced as: Mah – cooz – ah) was created in 1693, following the introduction of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Wizards worldwide had reached a tipping point, suspecting that they could lead freer and happier lives if they built an underground community that offered its own support and had its own structures. This feeling was particularly strong in America, due to the recent Salem Witch Trials.

MACUSA was modeled on the Wizards’ Council of Great Britain, which predated the Ministry of Magic. Representatives from magical communities all over North America were elected to MACUSA to create laws that both policed and protected American wizardkind…

 

(3) SURVIVING HOSTILITY. Angelica Jade Bastién, in an article for New Republic, says “For Women of Color, the Price of Fandom Can Be Too High”.

I’m open to criticism and discussing my writing with those who respectfully don’t agree with my opinion, but in covering comic properties, I’ve dealt with everything from people accusing me of not reading comics as if I had no idea what I was talking about to being told I was race baiting by acknowledging certain issues in the film. The worst were the very pointed attacks calling me an “idiot” or a “bitch” and far worse epithets from people I blocked. I won’t even go into the Reddit threads about my article that I was once tauntingly sent screenshots of. It’s something I’ve grown almost numb to as a critic. But what was more interesting to me was the level of hurt coming from these men and their routine way of doubting my comic knowledge—a dynamic other female journalists get time and time again.

I’ve watched all of the Star Trek series more times than I can count, and I often whip out Klingon when I’m nervous.

I have been reading comics obsessively since I was about ten years old. I can probably quote from John Ostrander’s original Suicide Squad run in my sleep, I’ve watched all of the Star Trek series more times than I can count, and I often whip out Klingon when I’m nervous. But I’ve found that the love and knowledge I have on these subjects never seems to be good enough for the people who grow furious at a black woman writing about these properties. White male fans often don’t want to face how their beloved properties often have troubling racial and gender politics.  (Just peruse the comments on my review of X-Men: Apocalypse for RogerEbert.com: “The author feels like the X-Men series in general has failed its female characters—ignoring the fact that Mystique is elevated to a leadership and relevance level well above the source material.” Many didn’t want to face a critique coming from a woman, and a fan, who knows them better than they do.) You can only delete emails and block people on Twitter for so long until you feel burnt out. The reason why we don’t see more black women writing about these subjects with such visibility isn’t because we haven’t been interested in them, it’s that publications rarely give us the opportunity, and when we do write, we often find ourselves facing personal scrutiny that has little to do with the actual writing. At times, I’ve been left to wonder, why do I love these stories so much when they rarely care about people who look like me?

(4) HOLD ON TO THE LIGHT. At Magical Words, “100+ Sci-Fi & Fantasy Authors Blog About Suicide, Depression, PTSD—a #HoldOnToTheLight Update by Gail Z. Martin” includes links to the first 40 posts authors have written around the theme.

More than 100 authors are now part of the #HoldOnToTheLight conversation! Our authors span the globe, from the US to the UK to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Even more exciting is that as the campaign picks up traction and visibility, more authors want to join, meaning a growing, vibrant dialog about mental wellness and coping with mental illness.

#HoldOnToTheLight is a blog campaign encompassing blog posts by fantasy and science fiction authors around the world in an effort to raise awareness around treatment for depression, suicide prevention, domestic violence intervention, PTSD initiatives, bullying prevention and other mental health-related issues. We believe fandom should be supportive, welcoming and inclusive, in the long tradition of fandom taking care of its own. We encourage readers and fans to seek the help they or their loved ones need without shame or embarrassment.

(5) MUSEUM OF SF KICKSTARTER FOR A WOMEN IN SF ANTHOLOGY. The Museum of Science Fiction has opened a Kickstarter appeal to fund Catalysts, Explorers & Secret Keepers, a “take-home exhibit” featuring short science fiction works by and about the women of the genre.

This anthology will showcase how they—as readers, as writers, and as characters—have engaged with and influenced science fiction for more than a century….

The cover of Catalysts, Explorers, & Secret Keepers will feature original artwork by the Hugo winning artist Julie Dillon. Award-winning authors Eleanor Arnason, Catherine Asaro, N.K. Jemisin, Nancy Kress, Naomi Kritzer, Karen Lord, Seanan McGuire, Sarah Pinsker, Kiini IburaSalaam, Carrie Vaughn, Jane Yolen, and Sarah Zettel have already agreed to contribute work to the exhibit.

Upon reaching the minimum funding target, the Museum will open submissions until December 1, 2016. The public will be able to submit original work that fits the take-home exhibit’s theme. Authors of original fiction published in Catalysts, Explorers, & Secret Keepers will receive the SFWA-standard pro-rate ofUS $0.06 per word, while authors of solicited reprints will receive US $0.03 per word. All authors featured in this exhibit will be invited to discuss their work as presenters and panelists in 2017 at Escape Velocity, the Museum of Science Fiction’s annual celebration of all things science fiction.

The appeal has raised $6,068 of its $8,500 goal with 26 days to go.

(6) TOR.COM REOPENING FOR NOVELLAS. Tor.com publishing will take unsolicited novella submissions for three months beginning October 12.

Lee Harris and Carl Engle-Laird will be reading and evaluating original novellas submitted by hopeful authors to http://submissions.tor.com/tornovellas/. You can find full guidelines here, and we highly recommend you read the guidelines before submitting. We will be open for three months, beginning on October 12th around 9:00 AM EDT (UTC-4:00) and ending on January 12th around 9:00 AM EST (UTC-5:00). We may extend this period depending on how many submissions we receive over the course of the open period.

(7) TAKE US TO YOUR CHIEF. From CBC Radio, “Drew Hayden Taylor on why we need Indigenous science fiction”.

Science fiction is meant to take us to places we’ve never been — this is what writer Drew Hayden Taylor is aiming to do with his new collection of short stories, Take Us to Your Chief.

Taylor’s new book filters famous sci-fi tropes such as aliens, time travel and government spying through the lens and perspective of Indigenous people. For him, he is simply taking these familiar stories and putting “some hot sauce on them.”   …

“I pictured myself as a 12-year-old kid back on the reserve, reading science fiction or reading books and not seeing our experiences in this book,” he explains. “I was just taking certain touchstones that we were all familiar with and then using them to take them out of the reserve environment into the larger sci-fi environment, and giving it that sort of resonance.”

(8) POSTSCRIPT TO NATIONAL FINISH-YOUR-BOOK DAY. Camestros Felapton reports there was  third sf novel finished yesterday – Timothy the Talking Cat’s The Confusing Walrus. According to Camestros,

I’ve read his ‘manuscript’ and it says “Copy whatever John Scalzi has written but use find/replace on the words ‘space’, ‘galaxy’, ‘star’ and ‘planet’ with the word ‘walrus’”

confusingwalrus-min

(9) INTERVIEW WITHOUT A VAMPIRE. Masters of Horror held a get-acquainted session with Horror Writers of America President Lisa Morton.

Interview With Lisa Morton By David Kempf

When did you first become interested in writing?

I’ve been writing almost as long as I’ve been reading – my first poem was published when I was 5! – but I didn’t seriously consider making a living out of it until I saw The Exorcist at the age of 15. Seeing the astonishing impact that film had on audiences during its initial release made me realize I wanted to do that, too.

How did you make this a full time job?

Well, it’s not my full time job now. I tried that for a while, back when I was making a fair amount of money as a screenwriter, and it didn’t work for me at all. I know most writers dream of being able to leave their day job and pursue writing all the time, but for me it was too isolating. Plus, I really love being a bookseller.

How did you become President of the Horror Writers Association?

By attrition, sadly. I was serving as Vice President when the President, Rocky Wood, passed away. Before that I’d held a variety of positions within the organization. I do find it satisfying to work with other writers and promote a genre that I love….

(10) NEXT BLADE RUNNER. The Verge reports “The Blade Runner sequel is officially titled Blade Runner 2049”.

(11) BROOKS ON WILDER AND FRANKENSTEIN. Mel Brooks got emotional before a screening last night.

Mel Brooks introduced one of the funniest movies ever made, Young Frankenstein, on Wednesday night. But the director couldn’t hold back tears.

Brooks paid homage to Gene Wilder, the star and co-writer of his 1974 classic comedy, before showing Young Frankenstein on the 20th Century Fox lot.

The live event was beamed to theaters around the country and turned into a tribute to Wilder, who died Aug. 29 at age 83. An encore presentation with Brooks’ introduction will screen in theaters Oct. 18.

“I get just a little overcome,” said Brooks, 90, from the stage, dabbing his eyes as he discussed Wilder. “I’ve had a few great memories in my life. But, honestly, I think making Young Frankenstein is my best year.”

(12) SWEET SWILL. ‘Tis the season for Deadworld Zombie Soda! (Turn the sound down when you click on this site.) The sodas come in 12 flavors, with label art created by comic book artists based on the characters and events that take place in Deadworld comic book universe.

  • ORANGE  – Orange Roamer
  • CHERRY COLA – Goon Biters
  • BLACK CHERRY – Royal Rotter
  • CREAM SODA – Brain Sap
  • COTTON CANDY – Zeek Cocktail
  • VANILLA CREAM SODA – Geek Juice
  • GRAPE – Grisly Swill
  • VANILLA ROOT BEER – Slow Decay
  • STRAWBERRY – Rot Berry
  • ROOT BEER – Twilight Shuffler
  • GREEN APPLE – Morbid Mix
  • GINGER ALE – Graveyard Delight

Untitled

Deadworld is the award winning, long running cult hit comic book series published by Caliber Comics that first exploded on the comic scene in 1986. With over 1 million copies in print and over 100 comics & graphic novels released to date, Deadworld is not your typical “zombie comic book or story”.

A supernatural plague has been unleashed on the world. The dead return to walk the earth…but this is no standard zombie story.  The dead are just foot soldiers for those who have crossed the ‘Gateway’ from another dimension. There are leader zombies who are intelligent, sadistic, and in addition to having a hankering for flesh, enjoy the tortuous ordeals they put the surviving humans through.

(13) EERIE OUTFITTER. Tim Burton’s costume designer Colleen Atwood interviewed by NPR (with comments on Miss Peregrine’s…):

From Hannibal Lecter’s mask to Edward Scissorhands’, well, scissor hands, Oscar-winning costumer Colleen Atwood has pretty much designed it all.

Working steadily since the 1980s, she’s dressed characters from the past and the future — the Middle Ages for Into the Woods, the Civil War for Little Women all the way to Gattaca and the 2001 Planet of the Apes. Her latest movie, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, is her eleventh with Tim Burton. It travels back in time to Wales during World War II….

(14) SLOW DOWN, YOU MOVE TOO FAST. The BBC sums up interstellar travel:

Science fiction writers and moviemakers have shown us countless visions of humanity spread out across the Universe, so you might be forgiven for thinking that we’ve already got this in the bag. Unfortunately, we still have more than a few technical limitations to overcome – like the laws of physics as we understand them – before we can start colonising new worlds beyond our Solar System and galaxy.

That said, several privately funded or volunteer initiatives such as the Tau Zero Foundation, Project Icarus and Breakthrough Starshot have emerged in recent years, each hoping to bring us a little bit closer to reaching across the cosmos. The discovery in August of an Earth-sized planet orbiting our nearest star has also raised fresh hopes about visiting an alien world.

Interstellar spacecraft will be one of the topics discussed at BBC Future’s World-Changing Ideas Summit in Sydney in November. Is travelling to other galaxies possible? And if so, what kinds of spacecraft might we need to achieve it? Read on to get up to (warp) speed: …

(15) TREK BEYOND BLOOPERS. CinemaBlend has the story and the video — “Chris Pine Does His Best Shatner Impression In Hysterical Star Trek Beyond Gag Reel”.

As professional as the actors all are on the set of a Star Trek movie, the final cut of the film adds effects and music to the experience which help transport you to the fictional world. Without that, you’re just a guy standing on a set spouting Star Trek gibberish. This becomes all the more clear when an actor trips over their lines, and suddenly everybody remembers that they’re acting again. The best part, though, is when Chris Pine calls for “Full impulse, Mr. Suliu” and John Cho stops to say that he sounds like he’s doing a William Shatner impression. Pine does add a bit of a classic Shatner pause to the line, so it does sound a bit like him to us. As much as we love William Shatner, we hope this doesn’t become a habit.

(16) THAT’S APPERTAINMENT. IanP unleashed this instant classic in a comment on File 770 today.

With apologies to Paul Weller

A pixeled car and a screaming siren
A shuggoth trail and ripped up books
A walrus wailing and stray pup howling
The place of fifths and tea drinking

That’s appertainment, that’s appertainment

A file of scrolls and a rumble of boots
A wretched hive and a bracket ‘head cloth
Ink splattered walls and the award of a rocket
Time machine appears and spews out pizza

That’s appertainment, that’s appertainment.

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Chip Hitchcock, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Darrah Chavey.]

95 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 10/6/16 Have Fun Storming The Pixels!

  1. (10) NEXT BLADE RUNNER.
    Coin flip between excited & worried.

    (16) THAT’S APPERTAINMENT.
    Nice one IanP!

    Magic Eightball says Paul Weimer will be today’s Fifth.

  2. @Rusty Yep, looks like an anachronistic mess of a title, given the 1693 date.

    “The Magical Congress of the United States of America, known to American witches and wizards by the abbreviation MACUSA (commonly pronounced as: Mah – cooz – ah) was created in 1693, following the introduction of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Wizards worldwide had reached a tipping point, suspecting that they could lead freer and happier lives if they built an underground community that offered its own support and had its own structures. This feeling was particularly strong in America, due to the recent Salem Witch Trials.”

  3. 3) *SIGH* The world is full of stupid people. I have never been surprised by anyone’s expression of joy, delight or fascination with anything which could even remotely be entertaining. They know what’s going on between their ears much better than I ever will or can. Enjoy what you like and to hell with the screaming howler monkeys.

  4. Well, we know she didn’t research Native traditions at all; it’s not surprising that she didn’t research any basic American history, either.

  5. @ Robert: The point, which you appear to have missed, is that it’s really hard to do that when the screaming howler monkeys are constantly flinging poo at you and your family. Not to put too fine a point on it, your comment is a variation on “ignore the bullies and they’ll quit” — and we all know how well THAT works.

  6. We tick because we scroll.
    I tick, therefore I scroll.
    I do not tick, and yet I must scroll.
    I tick, so that I will not scroll.
    Tick me before I scroll again.
    They do not tick, neither do they scroll.
    Boxes gotta tick, pixels gotta scroll.
    Do not tick until you see the pixels of their scrolls.

  7. @Lee- What you clearly have missed is that I’m not saying “ignore them and they’ll go away”. Screaming howler monkeys, by their nature, don’t go away. That’s why I called them “screaming howler monkeys”.

    Thus your options are to let them live in your head, rent free, or simply go on about your life, enjoying what you like while minimizing their impact. That’s why there are blocking functions on various social media. If village idiots went away, they wouldn’t be village idiots.

    You imputed your own interpretation of what I said. That doesn’t make your reading accurate.

  8. Rusty on October 6, 2016 at 6:16 pm said:

    The Magical Congress of the United States of America was created in 1693?

    Sure, why not?
    1. They have people that can see the future and
    2. Lots of institutions may say they started at date X even though they may have had a different name at the time.* They may have been called The Magical Congress of the United Colonies of America initially and ratified a name change a hundred or so years later at a business meeting with a magical Standlee.
    3. Maybe they were the ones who started the revolution…

    *[damn, now I can’t think of any examples – but it is lots I say, LOTS!]

  9. Robert Reynolds: Thus your options are to let them live in your head, rent free, or simply go on about your life, enjoying what you like while minimizing their impact.

    And how does someone “minimize the impact” of receiving dozens of abusive messages and rape and death threats in comments or by e-mail? By removing the ability for the public to contact them, thereby destroying the point of their blog/ business?

    If they turn off comments, they’ve shut down a major way for fans/ customers to interact with them. If they disable e-mail, they’ve completely turned off any possibility of interaction, and they might as well just stop trying to do whatever it is they’re doing (which is exactly what the OP is describing).

    It seems pretty clear to me that you’ve never been in a public-facing position and the recipient of real Internet abuse, or you’d understand why what you’re suggesting is not a viable solution at all.

  10. @Camestros: Is there only one immortal Standlee? Or is the position of Standlee a sacred office passed down from generation to generation? What would happen if the omens are misread and an unworthy one grasp the ceremonial hammer?

    What is Rowling hiding from us?

  11. (9) How did you become President of the Horror Writers Association?

    Surely a setup like this calls for a more colorful answer?

    “All the candidates went for a walk. I was the last one walking”

    “I’m not sure. We split up, and I never saw the others again”

    “The vote came from INSIDE THE HOUSE”

    “I always knew that my PhD in mycology would come in handy one day”

  12. @Robert Reynolds and Lee’s point which you seem to have missed is that these aren’t voices in someone’s head, they are a constant destructive presence in the community for women and PoC who dare to develop a significant online profile. Block functions on social media aren’t perfect and they generally still require people to personally vet the rude or offensive comment that is coming their way. Dealing with the quantity and vehemence of these individuals is possible but it requires refocusing energy in a particular way (yes, even to “just ignore them”) and the point is that it’s effort that doesn’t make sense to a lot of the people affected. If the drawbacks of being active in fandom for women and PoC and other marginalised identities is so high, realistically only those who get the absolute most out of being in fandom will make that cost benefit analysis work.

  13. 1. Honestly I’m not so much annoyed at the USA anachronism as I am about ascribing a horrid UN style acronym smash to the early modern period…

  14. @Camestros Felapton: cute explanation, but the only seer Rowling gave us was short-range and several bricks shy of a load, with context suggesting that was typical. Renaming seems a little more plausible (and not mentioning the renaming a typical bit of Rowling sloppiness), but it wouldn’t have been the United Colonies; they weren’t United back then either.

    @Rusty: a similar possibility covers “Washington DC”; the area was settled long before, under a different name that R is too sloppy to mention.

  15. (2) Sadly, this is just what the assholes want. So many insecure little white boys. (Also, anyone who doesn’t think the actress who plays Iris isn’t beautiful has some problems. Flash is cute, but in a dork way.)

    (3) If it’s always had that name, I am… not going to be surprised since it would continue the complete cluelessness and inability to Google or even Wiki that’s marked everything else about this. Also, neither Washington DC nor Washington State (where the sasquatch live) had those names at that time, and I’m not sure she’s clear on the difference, frankly — that paragraph is so badly-written. Clearly, there wasn’t a magical Standlee.

    @microtherion: “I was the only one who didn’t go in the basement.”

  16. @lurkertype
    I was stunned to hear about the animosity towards Iris West as portrayed in The Flash as well as the sheer number of Barry/Caitlyn shippers, when I don’t see any chemistry at all there. In this house, we’re big fans of the West family. Plus, my Mom has a crush on Jesse Martin, who plays Joe West.

    One of the things I like most about the DC TV universe (beyond the fact that the shows are a whole lot of fun) are the many multiracial and same sex couples and the fact that hardly anybody ever remarks on it. I also like that these shows have a lot of “colourblind” casting (James Olsen, Iris and Wally West, J’onn J’onnz, Hawkgirl and Firestorm are all white in the comics – okay, J’onn is actually green, but you get what I mean) and it doesn’t really matter, because the actors own those roles. Besides, it never really made sense that a reincarnated ancient Egyptian priestess would be white. And David Harewood turned a ridiculous and dated character like the Martian Manhunter into someone you empathise with, whereas Zack Snyder had no idea what to do with either J’onn J’onnz or Jimmy Olsen.

    As for J.K. Rowling abusing US history, I don’t know how deeply US history is covered in British schools, but you’d think she’d at least know some basic background. On the other hand, American writers have been abusing the history of other countries for decades now, so maybe this is just payback.

  17. @MIke

    You’ve posted this in the In Passing category, not Pixel Scroll.

    (Appertaining myself some early morning caffeine)

  18. “Howard even invented the UMHL salute. Take your right hand and make a tight thumbs-up, then flip it upside down (thumbs down). Now, place your knuckles against your temple in salute fashion. There you go, union salute!”

    Well, I have a new goal for my physical therapy sessions.

    (Still limited in range of motion and strength for the right arm, post-surgery. But improving. When I first got out of the arm sling after six weeks, I couldn’t even lift a cup of coffee to my mouth. Can do that now, with some minor shakes at the very top of the lift.)

  19. “Renaming seems a little more plausible (and not mentioning the renaming a typical bit of Rowling sloppiness), but it wouldn’t have been the United Colonies; they weren’t United back then either.”

    The Magical Congress of the Dispersed Colonies of America.

  20. (5) MUSEUM OF SF KICKSTARTER FOR A WOMEN IN SF ANTHOLOGY

    Backed-stalked!

    I’m a bit confused by the description of having open submissions, but a list of agreed contributors as well. I assume it’s a combo. There’s enough strong names in the list already to tempt me in, which is no doubt why they’ve done it like that.

    (6) TOR.COM REOPENING FOR NOVELLAS

    The call is for fantasy (epic, S&S, etc, not urban) from non-European-inspired cultures. They’re obviously trying to plug holes in their range – the last submission was aimed at science fiction, which had been strangely weak in their early lineup, but they’ve now improved on a bit.

    On the subject of which, they listed their next schedule of releases recently. I’ve managed to be restrained and only pre-ordered about half of them. Some highlights for me are Seanan McGuire has a new standalone (the inevitable Every Heart a Doorway sequel is coming a bit later I think), there’s sequels to Binti and Cold-Forged Flame (hoping Binti steps up a gear, and interested to see if Brennan can give her concept legs), Ruthanna Emrys is following up her Aphra Marsh story which sounds really exciting, Emma Newman has something new, Paul Cornell has a standalone story apart from the Lychford sequel, etc etc.

    Their latest release is Impersonations by Walter Jon Williams, which I finished yesterday. It’s in the Dread Empire’s Fall/Praxis sequence, and at c50,000 words it’s a short novel for award purposes not a novella. It features Sula, but he goes to some lengths to work her backstory in to help it standalone. I’m not sure how well that will work, as the theme is heavily influenced by her backstory and it’s one thing to have had a quick explanation and another to have really got into it through a full novel. It’s made me jump back and re-read book 1 though (which, Meredith-moment-style, is currently 99p in the UK).

    (8) POSTSCRIPT TO NATIONAL FINISH-YOUR-BOOK DAY

    I find myself a little dubious about Timothy’s writing speed – do we know anyone else who can bash out books on popular topics within a day or so….

    (Also, Ann Leckie reports in a mere day late)

    ETA: The Longlist Anthology Kickstarter is a mere $28 from funding the novellas as well, so with 10 days to go it’s looking like we’ll get a really strong lineup.

  21. @ Cora: I was stunned to hear about the animosity towards Iris West as portrayed in The Flash as well as the sheer number of Barry/Caitlyn shippers, when I don’t see any chemistry at all there.

    The only major criticism I have toward Iris West is that she doesn’t cut off contact with Barry Allen, the fastest creep alive. Barry should find someone at his level of mental capability, say a brine shrimp, or a particularly bright rock.

    I do also like the commitment to multiracial and same-sex relationships DC shows, as well as in Jessica Jones and Luke Cage (Let’s forget Daredevil existed). I can’t say whether I’m more exasperated or bitterly bemused by the huge number of reactionary fans that come out of the woodwork to protest anything even hinting of diversity.

    And seriously, I looked at that tweet, and couldn’t believe that there was anything to dispute. It’s like people getting in a frothing rage over gravity.

  22. @Robert Reynolds let them live in your head, rent free

    The difficulty is that when the “others” are actively trying – sometimes very hard – to get in your head and hurt you it takes a lot of effort to keep them out.

    (Others have already said this, but I thought it was worth putting as simply and clearly as possible.)

  23. Constantly seeing threats against you and having to block them, just to see more twitter eggs appearing with new threats will take a toll. You start to think what will happen if you should meet one of those people. There seem to be so many, so someone might try to find you. Blocking, blocking, but new ones appears.

    Just ignoring. Keeping out of your head. Is that even realistic? Or safe?

  24. 3). an observation: in general, I see two different reactions when people are harassed online. Admissions of fear, concern for safety, descriptions of emotional toll, vs bluster, aggression, challenge.
    The former is generally voiced by women, the latter by men. (How does that observation line up with other folks?)
    I had my own bout of this (mid 90s) and it included threatening me with being beaten to within an inch of my life.
    I am friends with a woman whose life has also been threatened.
    Her response was to seek shelter away from her home, to contact police, etc.
    My response was, when the idjits got me on the phone, to tell them that since they had my phone number, they knew where I lived, come on down.
    They did and I met them on my front porch with a baseball bat. There was a fair amount of shouting at 3 am, but they eventually left, sans violence. The harassment ended as well.
    Since most of the idjits out there are males (boy children), and since most of them are empowered by anonymity, I wonder if the seemingly typical female defensive posture in response to these kinds of things doesn’t actually encourage more of the same?
    Not victim blaming here (you shouldna worn such a short skirt…); just wondering if there isn’t a dynamic here that can be used to the benefit of those being victimized? Might there not be some way to express feelings of concern, etc, but delivered in a manner that comes across in a way that doesn’t lead to more of the same? In other words, is there a way to meet them on the porch with a baseball bat, or to provide supportive baseball bats?
    Of course, it may also be that male assholes will respect a male with a bat, but not a woman with a bat…and that meeting aggression with aggression will make things worse?
    I’m just asking.

  25. 16) I had that earworm going through my head ever since someone mentioned “that’s appertainment” so it only seemed right to share. 🙂

  26. Yes, some troubles will be stopped with threatening or using violence back. And some will result in broken noses, teeth, bonds and permanent damages. Or death.

    I will recommend the book The Little Black Book of Violence (which isn’t little at all) about how dangerous violence can be. The book has a checklist in the beginning where you can enter situations where you might want to risk using languages. At the end, the book recommends you to fill in the checklist again and at least in my case most of my previously checked in boxed disappeared.

    Violence and machismo might seem as solutions sometimes, but mostly it is the cause of lots and lots more problems than is solved.

  27. steve davidson: just wondering if there isn’t a dynamic here that can be used to the benefit of those being victimized? Might there not be some way to express feelings of concern, etc, but delivered in a manner that comes across in a way that doesn’t lead to more of the same? In other words, is there a way to meet them on the porch with a baseball bat, or to provide supportive baseball bats?

    You mean, mightn’t a whole lot of women consider behaving just as badly as some men behave, in order to convince men not to behave badly?

    Yeah, sure, the way to stop other people being assholes is to be an asshole yourself.

    Seriously, dude. Think about what you’re saying here. 🙄

  28. “And it shall be yclept MACUSA.”
    “What? Why? The way you pronounced that… do the letters stand for other words?”
    “Possibly.”
    “What?”
    “That shall be determined later. My seer and my counsel are both in agreement that we must take action to register the name before someone named Jobs gets it.”

  29. Apropos of nothing, are any other Filers going to Capclave this weekend in Gaithersburg, MD? If so, is there any interest in getting together for a drink or something?

  30. Re Rowling history

    They weren’t even always called colonies then – the word “plantations” was used through the 17th century, there was a Dominion of New England under the latter Stuarts, and such.

    Georgetown and Alexandria predate DC, but the first anyone knew there’d be a Washington D.C. was 1790. No way to know that unless you were in the room where it happened in 1790.

  31. @steve davidson – Of course, it may also be that male assholes will respect a male with a bat, but not a woman with a bat…and that meeting aggression with aggression will make things worse?

    I can’t explain the process, but the short answer is that men react very differently to women than they do to other men, at least in the US. In my experience, responding aggressively to aggression from men removes any sort of mental brake and pretty much ensures all out war. In other words, it’s somewhat possible for men to deescalate by fluffing out their fur at other men, but has the opposite effect when women do it.

  32. a ridiculous and dated character like the Martian Manhunter

    (indignant squeak)

    I don’t know how DC uses the character now but I thought it was very interesting how after Crisis the Manhunter stepped into the role of “immigrant who works to protect his adopted homeland” that Superman filled before he got Byrned.

  33. @steve davidson –

    Of course, it may also be that male assholes will respect a male with a bat, but not a woman with a bat…and that meeting aggression with aggression will make things worse?

    Because woman aren’t only supposed to be passive victims – they’re also supposed to be virginal, flawless nurturers. And any departure from this role places them completely outside the protections of society. There ability to fight fire with fire will be held up as how they are predatory aggressive harpies who viciously attacked the gallant neckbeard who attempted to engage them in Logical and Rational Discourse.*

    Women fight back, and some totally non-misgoynist type will be along shortly, to explain in some folksy way how if you engage in an argument, you’d be better be up for the consequences. They’ll have some totally not-paternalistic advice about how safe spaces rot your mind, too. You can substitute, or add, “totally not-racist” if representation issues are discussed. Because naming the implicit racism behind some attitudes is just as bad as the Klan, you see.**

    The woman in fandom who does nothing should have said something. The one that does something is no better than the harasser. And when someone mentions block, well, you still have to read it. And when you block it, your gallant man child will create a new twitter egg, and you’ll have to read that too. And of course, suggesting that people be more polite is of course censorship, Stalin. And if you dislike being screamed it in a way no white guy would ever have to face, well, you’re just giving them space in your head.

    You may assume that I have grown sick of this.

    *To non-manchildren, this invitation may have looked like a torrent of rape threats, but that’s just a sign that we’re all not simply Logical enough!

    ** Anyone screaming straw man should refer to a few scrolls back, about what was “just as bad as gamergate.”

  34. @JJ, Cheryl S, TYP:

    Thanks for the responses.

    I was “thinking about what I was saying/asking”. I’ve physically intervened for women, backed off when asked to, etc., depending upon the circumstances. I have experienced a fair number of women, in “male preserves” defending themselves against abuse in an aggressive manner and, while the guys will go off and mutter among themselves about what a bitch and dyke she was, they did back off.

    Here’s what I think I was getting at: part of the male intimidation game is responding to perceptions of weakness. Publicly stating “these threats scare me” fans the flames. Going to the police, re-locating are all perceived as a win in the “game”. I’m wondering if perhaps a change in the language used in responding might not be an effective tool. Unless that’s perceived as change that plays into the whole thing.

    I’m 5’5″ and slight. For many troglodytes, this is perceived as “weakness”. Growing up, I learned to do two things: think about five steps ahead of the troglodytes and answer overt aggression with aggression.

  35. I’m sure I’m going to regret responding to this, because it will accomplish nothing, but there were some remarks worth response, so I abandon wisdom and reply:

    Arifel and ghost bird: I agree with you both, yes, it does take a lot of energy and focus, there are people who don’t have the resources to make that effort and they’ll withdraw. For me, it’s sadly just another day and one more obstacle. I have to make that kind of effort with pretty much everything I do (I have to think about eating or I may choke to death swallowing wrong, I have to think about walking when I’m on crutches to avoid falling and so on).

    So, for me, worrying about some phlegm ball sending me a hateful e-mail doesn’t even rise to the level of annoyance. I heard things when I was THREE that were far more hurtful than anything any knuckle-dragger can say to me at this point in my life.

    Jerks have existed since the dawn of time. You cannot control the behavior of others. You can control the effect that behavior has on your life. You should find the response which works best for you-just do the best you can to keep the bastards from stealing your joy.

    @JJ: You’re largely correct, I have very little experience with having a high profile online and the attendant abuse such a profile brings. That’s because I’m older than dirt and have a considerable amount of experience with having a target on my back in the real world. Having been assaulted and battered by the technologically limited knuckle-draggers of my youth (in the Late Cretaceous) has caused me to minimize my exposure to their more technologically advanced equivalents who have the advantage of anonymity.

    You may or may not have noticed that I don’t comment much in here. In part, that’s due to arthritis in both hands, making typing a chore.

    But it’s also due to my being wary of saying much because, even when I make what appears to me to be an innocuous response to a topic which interests me, there almost inevitably will be a reply such as Lee’s or yours. I’m way too tired and generally disheartened by the world at large to desire to butt heads with people in such cases. There’s an arrogant blowhard entirely too close to the presidency for my liking, a ten year old was set on fire by two bullies under circumstances which hit very close to home and the world seems to have gone mad. Being lectured by someone in a place I come for relaxation because they see me as insensitive to something which I’ve lived with for decades in the real world, as opposed to the virtual asylum that is the internets is a hill I don’t really want to die on. Further Deponent Saith Not.

  36. Thinking about the interstellar travel item, I see the BBC article mentions hibernation. That’s one of those technologies like flying cars that just never seems to happen. In the case of flying cars, I think the energy requirements make it clear why it hasn’t ever happened, but hibernation doesn’t seem inherently impractical. We know how arctic frogs survive freezing, after all, and we can preserve frozen embryos for decades. But, for whatever reason, human hibernation (or even dog hibernation) eludes us. Pity, because even for solar-system exploration, it would make a big difference.

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