Pixel Scroll 4/30/16 Pride and Prejudice and Puppies

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Here is your Hugo-themed Scroll.

(1) RIGHT IN THE EYE. These are beauties….

https://twitter.com/rangercraig/status/726461937387601920

(2) STUBBORN. The G at Nerds of a Feather asks “HUGOPOCALYPSE II: Where Do We Go From Here?” (This was posted the day the nominations were announced, April 26 – I lost track of it while trying get File 770 back online.)

So outside the popular categories, it’s pretty much all RP all the time. And this is the big problem for me, because the clear message is “organize or be rendered irrelevant.” Like I said last year, I don’t want the Hugos to be an annual rerun of the US presidential election. That already takes up too much oxygen as it is, and the Hugos are supposed to be about fans celebrating the best stuff they discovered over the previous year–not voting in lockstep to further someone’s agenda. So I won’t back any proposed counter-slates–not even one that reflected my exact political worldview (and it’s very doubtful that any would). I want nothing to do with that–nothing at all.

(3) ASTERISKS DEFENDED. David Gerrold responded on Facebook to Jim C. Hines’ recent post about the Sasquan asterisks.

…But let’s be honest. There were people who arrived at the Hugo reception and the award ceremony with the intention of being offended, no matter what happened. These were the people who decided that the asterisks were intended as an insult.

I suppose I should be sorry about inadvertently hurting people’s feelings — and I would apologize to people like Toni Weisskopf and Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Ken Burnside (and a few others) if they took it the wrong way. I had hoped that everyone would see it as a chance to laugh away some of the tension.

But the real hurt to all the qualified people on the ballot was the damage done by the slate-mongering in the first place and that’s where the real anger should be directed — not at the attempt to leaven the pain. People who should have gone home with trophies came in behind No Award because the great majority of fans voted no to the slates.

And yet, there is this — despite all the Monday-morning complaining by the outrage committee, the sale of those little wooden asterisks raised $2800 for the Orangutan foundation — and that’s $2800 more than all the pissing and moaning and whining and name-calling raised for anything.

(4) GERROLD DEFENDED. Laura “Tegan” Gjovaag backs David Gerrold at Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog.

David Gerrold has a post about Hugo asterisks. I just want to say, the asterisks were there the instant the puppies gamed the Hugos. Putting them into physical form didn’t make it any worse, since the damage was already done. On the contrary, the asterisks let some of us have a physical memento of their first time voting in the Hugos (me!) and raised money for a worthy cause. The people who were hurt by the asterisks deserved to be hurt because they are the ones who put the asterisk there in the first place by gaming the Hugo nominations. The fact that they still don’t get it only proves the point. And it still amazes me that they are stupid enough to think that people gamed the Hugos before they did. The utter willful ignorance of the puppies is astounding.

(5) THE HAMSTER COMMANDS. Ian Mond’s Hysterical Hamster headline may say “Don’t Look Away – it’s the HUGOOOOOS, oh and the Clarke Awards and a truly fantastic book” but he absolutely refuses to explain….

This week saw the announcement of the Hugo Award and Clarke Award nominees – one rinsing the taste of shit left by the other.

As with 2015, Vox Day successfully took a massive crap all over the Hugo Awards, smearing his poo-stained fingers over 64 of the 81 nominees.  If you have no idea who or what a Vox Day is then GIYF because I honestly can’t be bothered explaining it.

(6) HOT LINKS. Spacefaring Kitten has “Rabid Puppy Finalists’ Reactions, Compiled” at Spacefaring, Extradimensional Happy Kittens. I spotted one I hadn’t seen before –

(7) I’VE BEEN HAD. Depending on what you thought he was talking about, you also may have been had by Chuck Tingle.

(8) IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR. Europa SF takes an in-depth look at a European Retro Hugo nominee in “Karin Boye’s ‘Kallocain’ Nominated As Best Novel for the Retro Hugo Awards”.

“In Boye’s novel, the “World State” is locked in a condition of perpetual war with the “Universal State” to the East; both states – each of them claustrophobic warren-like male-dominated repressive societies – are gripped by paranoia and fear, with Thought Police ubiquitous. The protagonist’s fatal invention of the eponymous truth drug only generates further repression in the “World State”, as the involuntary self-betraying inner thoughts of everyone are now punishable. He eventually becomes a prisoner scientist in the “Universal State”, where he continues his work. As in Orwell’s novel, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.” – The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

“Kallocain” by Karin Boye (Bonnier)

Seen through the eyes of idealistic scientist Leo Kall, “Kallocain‘s depiction of a totalitarian world state may draw on what Boye observed or sensed about the bolshevic dictatorship of Soviet Union, which she visited in 1928 and the Nazi Germany. An important aspect of the novel is the relationships and connections between the various characters, such as the marriage of the main character and his wife Linda Kall, and the feelings of jealousy and suspicion that may arise in a society with heavy surveillance and legal uncertainty.

One of its central ideas coincides with contemporary rumors of truth drugs that ensured the subordination of every citizen to the state. Both Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” (1932) and Boye’s “Kallocain” are drug dystopias, or societies in which pharmacology is used to suppress opposition to authority. However, unlike “Brave New World”, where a drug is used to suppress the urge to nonconformity generally, in Kallocain a drug is used to detect individual acts and thoughts of rebellion.

“Kallocain“ has been translated into more than 10 languages and was adapted into a television miniseries in 1981 by Hans Abramson.

(8) CANON PREDICTION. Camestros Felapton asks “Is N.K.Jemisin’s The Fifth Season a Science Fiction Classic?”

There is a rhetorical rule of headlines that if they are phrased as a question then the answer is actually “no”. Strictly, I also have to say “no” but only because we can only declare a novel a ‘classic’ retrospectively, after years in which its influence and critical impact have occurred. However, I’m posing the question because I feel that the answer that will come 10 years, 20 years, 30 years down the line is “yes”. I think this is a book that will shape authors and will be studied and will be cited by many as their favorite SF book. I suspect in 20 years time when people are moaning about the books nominated for the Hugo awards not being as good as the books in the past, people will point at The Fifth Season and say ‘there is nothing this year that is as good as that’.

However, I know that is a hard position to defend. So I’m going to go off on some tangents. Bear with me. Readers should also be aware that the book deals with themes of violence and physical abuse, some of which will be discussed below.

(9) HE READ THE NEWS TODAYS. John C. Wright tells how the mainstream media coverage of the Hugo nominations falls short of his standards in “We Also Call Them Morlocks”.

I used to be a newspaperman and newspaper editor, so I know the business, and I understand the pressure newspapermen are under to lie, and lie, and lie again.

Some, as did I, resist the temptation.

Others, many others, very many others indeed, not only give into the temptation to dwell in falsehoods, but bathe in falsehood, dive into it, drink it, anoint themselves in it, baptize themselves in it, breathe it in, absorb it through every skin pore, mainline it, insert it as a suppository, and perform unnatural sexual acts with it, and in all other ways regard falsehood as a holy calling, and deception a sacrament.

However, even so, the true shocking nature of the falsehood, the insolence of it, the recklessness, the sheer magnitude of it, cannot truly be felt except to one, like me, who has been on the receiving end.

It is astonishing to hear newspapermen who have never made the slightest effort to contact you, who neither interview you nor quote anything you say, nor offer the slightest scintilla of evidence, reporting your innermost thoughts and motivations hidden in the most secret chamber of your heart, and to discover that your motives are the opposite of everything you have said, thought and did your whole life. Astonishing.

Here is a roundup of some links of various media outlets who decided that their honesty, integrity and sacred honor were worth selling in return for the questionable gratification involved in spreading an untruth so unlikely to be believed….

(10) SLATE FATE. “Vote Your Conscience” says Steve Davidson at Amazing Stories.

My argument against slates has always been about the methodology, not the presumed issues that gave rise to them (be it push-back against diversity or the juvenile temper-tantrum that is Beale).  My advancement of the No Award strategy (and I was not the only one to suggest it) was predicated on the idea that a hard and fast line could be established:  either a work had been slated or it had not been.  This directly addressed the methodology of the puppy protest, in effect saying “slates and campaigning are not the way to go about registering your protest”.  It did not address the questions of whether or not their arguments were valid, nor did it shut them out of the process.

This, I believe, is a position that falls in line with the thinking of the vast majority of Hugo Award participants, who welcome anyone who wishes to join – so long as they respect the culture and institutions of the community.  No one is saying to puppies “do not participate”.  All that is being said is “don’t game the system”.

In conjunction with the No Awards voting strategy, I also strongly (and repeatedly) urged everyone who might have something nominated for an award last year or into the far future, to make a public statement that they do not want to be included on a slate and, if they become aware that they have been, they publicly ask to be removed.  Further, I asked that voters respect those public statements and to treat such nominees as if they were not on a slate, should they appear on the ballot.

This strategy does not rely on compliance from puppies.  This year there are several nominees who made such statements, found themselves on a puppy slate, asked to be removed and were ignored.  I have no problem including those authors on my ballot.  I am positive that the vast majority of voters have far less angst over including them in their votes than they do over other works that “would have been on the ballot anyway”, but which are not backed up by slate repudiation.

Absent repudiation, questions remain:  are they happy to be on the ballot regardless of how they got there?  Are they ok with being used as a shield?  How will they feel if it turns out that some other, non-slated work was knocked off the ballot because they said nothing?  (Recognizing that they have no control over placement on a slate is no cover for not having said anything previously.)

(11) THESE THINGS MUST BE DONE VERY CAREFULLY. Mal-3 at Conceptual Neighborhood says “There Is An Art to Trolling….”.

A long time ago at the 2000 World Horror Convention I got to witness Dan Simmons troll the absolute shit out of Harlan Ellison. It was at a panel about getting works adapted in Hollywood, and Ellison has historically had kind of a terrible time getting his stuff through the studios, and he was going on in incredible detail about how the process was horrible and everybody involved was awful and so forth and so on. And then Dan Simmons would break in and just say, with a big kinda dopey smile, “Well, I had a great time!”

Every single time Ellison would start going off on a tear Simmons would come back with that line, and Ellison just kept getting angrier and angrier and it was the funniest goddamned thing.

That’s kind of what I’m seeing here with Chuck Tingle: somebody tried to weaponize him and now it’s not working like it should. Pity, that.

[Thanks to Will R., Gregory N. Hullender, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Will R.]

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159 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 4/30/16 Pride and Prejudice and Puppies”

  2. Second!

    (1) whatever those awards are, they are gorgeous. What movie is that image from? Can’t remember. “From the Earth to the Moon,” maybe?

  4. I cracked up when I saw that Mal posted that earlier today. Of course, I asked him to participate in my new project because I knew he’d write things like this. Thanks for giving us a nod, Mike.

  5. Fifth?

    Any announcement from the administratorder regarding the withdrawal by Mays, are they going to replace with a new finalist or no?

  6. (9) In his post, JCW says that the stories on the 2015 ballot represent really good science fiction, and anyone who read them would see that. He even castigates George R.R. Martin for saying that the Puppy-slated fiction on the ballot wasn’t very good, claiming that this must mean that Martin didn’t read the stories. As evidence for this, JCW says that if Martin had, he would have liked JCW’s stories since Martin bought one of JCW’s stories once. Not one of the slated stories, a totally different story. Because buying one story once from an author means that all of their other stories have to be good enough to be Hugo-worthy.

    JCW’s entire post represents his continuing retreat from reality into self-delusion.

  7. (8) The Fifth Season may have been my favorite 2016 book. I find it impossible to be certain I’ll think the same in 10 years. I at least need a year or two to let it ferment in my brain. I’ll need to reread that essay more thoroughly later. As always, our fellow filer provides food for thought.

    (9) I rarely have the patience to read an entire post at once, but Wright is always… fun.

    Others, many others, very many others indeed, not only give into the temptation to dwell in falsehoods, but bathe in falsehood, dive into it, drink it, anoint themselves in it, baptize themselves in it, breathe it in, absorb it through every skin pore, mainline it, insert it as a suppository, and perform unnatural sexual acts with it, and in all other ways regard falsehood as a holy calling, and deception a sacrament.

    And, unrelated except in wow factor…

    no one in his right mind can look at my archaic diction, concern for the highest philosophical matters, erudite allusion to the classics, and consummate craftsmanship and claim my work is not literary

  9. Aaron: 9) In his post, JCW says [my short-form translation: his usual pompous blah-blah-blah]. JCW’s entire post represents his continuing retreat from reality into self-delusion.

    Thanks for reporting on the rest of the post. I thought about clicking on it to read the whole thing, and thought, “Nah, I know exactly what it’s going to say — his same-old usual pompous windbag bullshit.”

    So thanks for saving me the aggro.

  10. Chuck Tingle is the best thing about this year’s Hugos. Whatever happens he should be nominated next year for Best Related Work.

  11. I’m with Gerrold and Gjovaag.

    On a different topic, both Brandon Kempener and Greg Hullender think that “Hyperspace Demons,” by Jonathan Moeller must have got enough nominations to make the ballot for Best Novelette, and that Rgus must have got enough nominations for Best Fan Artist; and Greg adds also Anne Sowards, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, and Mike Braff for Best Editor (Long Form) and Zenopus for Best Fan Writer. If they are right, those candidates must have declined or been disqualified (and VD has admitted that some on his list did not make the ballot for those reasons).

    Has anyone seen any public commentary on these cases? Given Bryan Thomas Schmidt’s comments last year, I would not be at all surprised if it turns out that he declined nomination this year. Equally I entirely respect the right of those concerned to remain silent and leave it until August for things to become clear.

    While researching this I accidentally bought “Hyperspace Demons” (damn you One-Click), so will report back if necessary.

  12. (8) The Fifth Season was brilliant, but I’m going with “not yet” on the classic status since only 1/3 of the story has been told, and her previous 2 series seemed to taper off a bit toward the end.

    (11) Simmons seems to be quite adept at trolling. At one point he claimed that GRRM said to him: “If I were really cynical I would start some medieval sword and sorcery thing, say it’s a trilogy, then keep writing it for the rest of my life”, and that successfully blew up /r/asoiaf.

  13. (7) while I fundamentally agree with N.K. Jemisin that Chuck Tingle hasn’t fundamentally responded to the negative impact of his taking a space on the ballot which would not have come about except through Scoundrels Inc., I have to admire how successfully he has trolled Syphilis B. into gleefully reposting tweets about Taylor Swift and LGBT acceptance. Of course he has to be seen to chortle loudly at all of Chuck’s jokes because otherwise his boys might start to realise they might not all be on us…

    (9) Hang on, I thought Wright was supposed to be Puppy approved Good Clean Unpretentious Fun and not more of this literary nonsense undeserving of ST accolade? I hope one day I can understand enough big words and sentence structures for this mega confusing puppy argument to make sense in my delicate feminine mind!

  14. Re Tingle: at least SOMEONE who isn’t objectively horrible is having fun with this.

  15. Others, many others, very many others indeed, not only give into the temptation to dwell in falsehoods, but bathe in falsehood… insert it as a suppository, and perform unnatural sexual acts with it

    Hey! What happens between a man and his falsehood is a perfectly natural, normal thing.

  16. Brian Thomas Schmidt said on SP4:

    Please remove me from the list. I will refuses any nominations this year and don’t want to waste anyone’s time. I just learned of this list. Thanks.

    I’d forgotten that, but I think it makes it highly likely he was a withdrawal.

  17. I’m going to try and contain my Fifth Season gushing because gushing is unseemly 🙂

    I read it once before I left on travels and then I read it again surrounded by the Andes and daily reminds of how powerful tectonic forces are and how they shape societies and I think it may have done something to my head.

  18. You know, I found that redditt thread bart mentioned and I have no clue who is trolling who in there. Like, I hope that time traveling Oedipus theory is a joke, but good Lord is it elaborate if so. Also, I used to post on westeros and have zero difficulty imaging sometime chasing their own tale so hard they fall down a rabbit hole.

  19. (8) In the rear-view mirror: That article on Kallocain and Karin Boye is just some scrapings from Wikipedia and some other places.

    Instead, read the book:

    * Swedish literature bank (Swedish)
    * Projekt Runeberg (Swedish)
    * University of Wisconsin (English translation)

    BTW, to TB:

    I hope you’re having a rotten time.
    I hope you’re lying awake like I am,
    and feeling strangely glad and stirred
    and dizzy and anxious and very disturbed.

    and suddenly you’ll hurry up
    to settle down and sleep like a top.
    I hope it takes you longer than you think…
    I hope you don’t even get a wink!

    (Karin Boye, “From a Bad Girl”, translated by David McDuff)

  20. @Camestros Felapton: I totally agree with the anthropological aspects you noted. The presence of cataclysms and orogenes had an intimate effect on so many things – the social structure, culture, general way of life – and it made the world feel very convincing and “lived-in”.

    Someone on Goodreads noted that Jemisin’s author page lists her influences as Le Guin and Tanith Lee; I can definitely see the Le Guin influence here.

  21. Others, many others, very many others indeed, so many others, profusions and ranks and battalions of others, this other, that other, the other other, other after other after other with their other paws and other tails and silky wet other fur oh sorry those are otters.

  22. Camestros:

    I’ve often said that Californians are weird precisely because they couldn’t even trust that the ground under their feet will remain stable. I haven’t read Fifth Season yet, but I’m really looking forward to it.

  23. I am, in all modesty, a skilled other, one of the finest othering today.

  24. I don’t want to give Tingle a Hugo, but hell, give him 20 Alfies. And a lutefish.

  25. @Nicholas Whyte

    I don’t think Amazon publicizes this, but they’re very good about refunds, especially if it is an accidental purchase. They also seem to be not very concerned if you’ve read it first (as I ended up doing with some comics that didn’t make it to Comixology properly – I had read them on Kindle while waiting for them to propagate and I doubt they knew I intended to re-buy them over there).

  26. 9) Newspapermen?! Honest article at Breitbart?!

    That aside, why the hell is he railing at last year’s hugo coverage now?!

    In Teddy news, he gave the following reasons why Kukuruyo isn’t a child pornographer

    ” 2. I am reliably informed that Ms Marvel was 16 when she was introduced in 2013. That makes her at least 18 now, possibly 19.
    3. The age of consent in Spain is 16. Kukuruyo is Spanish, lives in Spain, and US law is not relevant to his activities.
    4. The drawing cannot be child pornography regardless of what age the fictitious character is supposed to be. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that drawings and computer representations are not child pornography.”

    I don’t think that Teddy understands how comic books work if he thinks that normal time applies.

    Also, how do you say “US law is not relevant” and then the next point quote… US law?

  27. Bartimaeus on May 1, 2016 at 1:22 am said:

    @Camestros Felapton: I totally agree with the anthropological aspects you noted. The presence of cataclysms and orogenes had an intimate effect on so many things – the social structure, culture, general way of life – and it made the world feel very convincing and “lived-in”.

    Someone on Goodreads noted that Jemisin’s author page lists her influences as Le Guin and Tanith Lee; I can definitely see the Le Guin influence here.

    Yes, very Le Guin but like something that has grown organically from Le Guin. You keep see the family resemblance but also a distinct voice.

    katster on May 1, 2016 at 1:34 am said:

    Camestros:

    I’ve often said that Californians are weird precisely because they couldn’t even trust that the ground under their feet will remain stable. I haven’t read Fifth Season yet, but I’m really looking forward to it.

    I’ve mainly lived in the UK and Australia, which both tend to have ground that stays put 🙂

  29. Are we sure that JCW and Chuck Tingle are not one in the same person?
    I mean, have they ever been seen in the same room together?
    On seeing the slate, who did not think that ‘at least there isn’t any JCW’.
    Think again. Is this not more evidence ob the tubercule’s sooper genius.
    He’s gone and snuck Chuck Tingle in behind us when we weren’t looking.
    5GW at its most masterful I’d say

  30. 8) I read Kallocain and am prepared to vote it half a Hugo, on the grounds that it is half of a very good book. We have the dystopian setting very nicely realized, we have an engaging protagonist, we have the situation developing (rot13’ed from here on out because, hey, spoilers) va juvpu uvf gehgu qeht pyrneyl perngrf gbb zhpu ubarfgl gb or fnsr, va gur ercerffvir fbpvrgl ur yvirf va – jr jnvg (nyy evtug, V jnvg) sbe gur qenzn gb qrirybc, jura fhqqrayl, onat! n ohapu bs rarzl cnengebbcref qebc ba bhe ureb naq qent uvz bss gb n CbJ pnzc, Gur Raq.

    A case of serious plottus interruptus if ever there was one, and I resent it much more than I would in a worse book.

  32. JCW thoughts:

    –given that he had a whole new work come out last year (I think…) I was a little surprised to see that VD didn’t slate him and was wondering whose decision that was.

    –I had been pleasantly surprised by his relative silence since the nominations (at least in terms of appearances here; I don’t make a habit of reading his blog) and was hoping after last year he decided to sit this out or at least his meek and gentle wife had convinced him to keep his peace.

    But no, apparently he was just constipated and it took a while to work something down. All that fiber from eating pages from the 1873 edition of the dictionary is good for the system, but you have to remember to drink enough liquid or everything stops up.

    –His argument for why he is a literary writer is just jaw dropping in both its cluelessness as to what actually makes a literary writer (as opposed to a pretentious poseur) and its implied self delusion. Free hint: really great writers don’t have to go around telling people that they are great writers.

    –He tars pretty much all reporters as lying liars (except for the ones from that noted bastion of journalistic integrity, Breitbart) while he pats himself on the back for never giving into that temptation. This brings immediately to mind Scott Lynch’s and others’ reports of the alleged cursing out of his meek and gentle wife at Sasquan last year as contrasted with his own hyperbolic telling of the incident. That was some truthful reporting there.

    –I wonder whether his completely serious reference to “coloured people” in his current essay is meant to exemplify his archaic diction or his erudite allusions to the classics.

    –“not only give into the temptation to dwell in falsehoods, but bathe in falsehood, dive into it, drink it, anoint themselves in it, baptize themselves in it, breathe it in, absorb it through every skin pore, mainline it, insert it as a suppository, and perform unnatural sexual acts with it,”

    I eagerly await Chuck Tingle’s next masterpiece, “Slammed in the Butt By Lying Morlocks”

    As always, I just have to marvel at the level of Wright’s self-delusion about the quality of his work and his absolute assurance that he deserved the accolades that were stolen from others and handed to him last year. I wish I could believe it was a Chuck Tingle-level piece of performance art satirising pretentiously awful writers. It is both grotesque and tragic that no, this is the real guy and his real thoughts.

    –I can mark off both Pedarast and Morlocks on my 2016 Puppy Hugo Bingo Card! Thanks JCW!

  33. Good to see (3) and (4). Tired of being told it’s a failure of character to enjoy the asterisks, to see them as good-natured, and to believe the Puppies would have found something else to be offended by, if not the asterisks.

  34. Re: Wright
    All I can say is from private conversations with him once upon a time–he does really think his work is among the best in SF, and that last year’s nominations were justified, worthy and due.

    Sadly, I’ve found him more and more unreadable as time has passed. And that doesn’t even get into the full fulminating expression of his personal beliefs, which has horrified me. Which is why I’ve sometimes done blog posts reacting to his posts, which has, as a couple of you who visit my blog know, brought trolls and Rabid Puppies to defend him and decry me.

    And so it goes. And so it goes.

  35. S.R. Algernon (of Asymmetrical Warfare) has left a link to this blog post over on spacefaringkitten’s blog

    First, I would like to thank everyone who felt that “Asymmetrical Warfare” had merit and supported it as a Hugo contender, as well as everyone who helped my writing develop over the years. Critters (www.critters.org) deserves a special mention here.

    Second, I recognize that, with the politics of the situation being what it is, many worthy contenders did not make it on the Short Story ballot. After some consideration, I have chosen to defer to the position of the Hugo Administration and allow “Asymmetrical Warfare” to contend for the Hugo in good faith, irrespective of its presence on any slates.

    “Asymmetrical Warfare” has received some positive reviews (for example, see Lela Buis’s review). I believe that the aim of the Hugo Awards should be to give the science fiction and fantasy community writ large a voice in recognizing work that has merit. I do not want to deprive them of their chance to vote next month, whether they are voting tactically or based on their opinion of the story itself.

    With that being said, I hope that all of you will take a few moments to read “Asymmetrical Warfare.” For those of you who are voting for political or tactical reasons. I will post a list of my other works shortly, with links and more information. This should make it easier to place “Asymmetrical Warfare” in a socio-political context before you cast your vote.

    (Quote has some into and outro snipped)

  36. Are we sure that JCW and Chuck Tingle are not one in the same person?

    It appears that Mr Wright has a third forename, Justin. However if you write the capital J and fail to emphasise the tail, you end up with John “C T” Wright. I think that’s clear enough.

    … no? Well the reason my conspiracy theory doesn’t make sense is probably the fault of John Scalzi.

  37. I haven’t a clue what he means by to defer to the Hugo Administration. I didn’t know there was something/someone called the Hugo Administration.

    Perhaps Kevin Standlee could enlighten us? Pretty please?

  38. (9) HE READ THE NEWS TODAYS

    “I used to be a newspaperman and newspaper editor”

    There seem to be a number of professions that JCW no longer practises. I sense a common thread.

    His attempt to falsify the connection between gamergate and Rabids is a brave but doomed one, particularly as the article he is opposing only makes a lesser claim that they “drew on the tactics and talking points of Gamergaters.” Obviously his cause isn’t helped by VD splashing GG and Rabids on the masthead of his blog with equal enthusiasm, but I think best answer as to whether or not they drew on the same tactics is Larry Correia saying to Milo Yiannopoulos “@Nero this predates GG, but the tactics were very similar. We’re doing it again this year….”

  39. @NelC:

    Chuck Tingle is the best thing about this year’s Hugos. Whatever happens he should be nominated next year for Best Related Work.

    He’s got my nom.

    I still want a special award for VD for expanding the scope of nominated SF to include gay porn.

  40. Mike, did you realize you have two No. 8’s on this Scroll?

  41. @Bonnie McDaniel:

    Mike, did you realize you have two No. 8’s on this Scroll?

    Two number 8s?! That’s not how we do these things.

  42. I haven’t a clue what he means by to defer to the Hugo Administration. I didn’t know there was something/someone called the Hugo Administration.

    Do you think that by “defer to the Hugo Administration” he means,

    “You said it! NO take backsies!”

  43. Stevie:

    I haven’t a clue what he means by to defer to the Hugo Administration. I didn’t know there was something/someone called the Hugo Administration.

    Well, there are someone who does the counting. And they are typically called the Hugo admins. However, Algernon’s “I have chosen to defer to the position of the Hugo Administration” hints at a belief that the administrators functions as a jury, and that they have not just counted votes but made an independent decision to pick his story. He is either unaware of, or pretends to be unaware of, the direct causality between his place on the slate and his place in the finals.

    But basically it’s another weak “oh I’m neutral in this”-argument.

  44. ASTERISKS: I’ll say this for Laura Gjøvaag: she’s at least willing to own the offense the asterisks caused. Gerrold is still squirting clouds of ink about it.

    STUBBORN: I suppose some people will find it interesting what The G will not do about the fact that the Hugo Awards are under sustained attack from a griefer. Perhaps they go into detail about what they are willing to do in the rest of the post?

    I’VE BEEN HAD: Chuck Tingle is evidently hilarious to people who find him funny. That’s a talent.

    JCW: Attention must finally be paid to such a man. Someone please get on that.

  45. Looking at the BDP, Short Form Retro-Hugo category, I see it is really a mixed bag. A radio series episode, on the origin of Superman. A shortish live-action feature film, being a sequel to the Invisible Man. Two animated theatrical shorts, one introducing Bugs Bunny, one continuing Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. A shortish Disney animated feature film.

    And no Long Form Editor, Fan Artist, or Fancast categories.

  46. Today is a great day here at the hive, because it’s the day when we gush about The Fifth Season!

    The Fifth Season was my number 1, no consideration needed, best novel nomination, so to see it make the final ballot really dulls the pain of the rest of it. Double points because Jemisin is one of Beale’s specific enemies, so likely one of the very people he wants to keep off the ballot.

    I read The Fifth Season in ebook previously, but when I preordered The Obelisk Gate, I went ahead and got a paperback of The Fifth Season as well. Since then, it’s been sitting on my coffee table, staring at me and calling my name with its sweet words, but I know that if I read it I’m just going to get angry all over again that I don’t have part 2 there to continue with.

  47. @tofu

    Argh yes, The Obelisk Gate is released a frustrating 2! weeks! after voting closes. Another nefarious tradpub conspiracy, I expect.

  48. given that he had a whole new work come out last year (I think…) I was a little surprised to see that VD didn’t slate him and was wondering whose decision that was.

    Beale did slate JCW’s work. So did the Sads. Either he declined the nomination or he didn’t garner enough votes to get on the finalist list.

  49. I can imagine JCW’s work being the least popular amongst the Puppies. He is proudly literary, after all, and they don’t like all that pretentious muck.

  50. This brings immediately to mind Scott Lynch’s and others’ reports of the alleged cursing out of his meek and gentle wife at Sasquan last year as contrasted with his own hyperbolic telling of the incident. That was some truthful reporting there.

    As far as I can tell, JCW’s experience as a “newspaperman” was working for St. Mary’s Today, a local tabloid in a rural Maryland county. The publication was referred to as “the Rag” for its low quality and the often less than close relationship to the truth its stories had.

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