[kosmogrl]

[gay-hrithik-roshan]

[heyheyrenay]

final best novel hugo prediction

I did some predictions in previous months, but it is time for the Final Prediction!

Books I am 80% Sure About:

The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

Books I'm 30% Sure About (It Depends on Who Votes Because Three Are Sequels):

Queen Demon by Martha Wells

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Authors Who Publish So Much They Could Make it But Hell If I Know Which Thing Voters Might Choose:

Adrian Tchaikovsky

Book I Think Would Make It If There Had Been a U.S. Release for UK Reviews To Press on U.S. Readers:

When There Are Wolves Again by E. J. Swift

Book That Should Make It But Likely Won't Because It's Too Niche and Hard to Handsell, But It Would Be Nice If It Did:

Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman

Books I Want To Make It So I'm Too Biased To Guess:

The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

As always, there are so many great SFF books published each year. There's a full crowd sourced list in the Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom for every Hugo Award category. It's open for editing by everyone (whether or not you plan to vote) and has directions on how to get involved in WSFS for choosing the finalists/winner. :)

[heyheyrenay]

Okay, how did I do? Here's the official list:

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow

The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

I didn't do too badly!

The Tainted Cup fans returned to grant the sequel another nomination.

I didn't see Death of the Author coming at all; it wasn't even on my awards radar for fan-based awards.

I didn't guess which Adrian Tchaikovsky, but I did guess him, and I count that as a win even though this specific novel is one I haven't seen as much discussion about.

The Everlasting, yep, yep, can't wait to argue about this for a few months.

Emily Tesh won a Hugo for Some Desperate Glory; can she do it again?

The Raven Scholar, my beloved.... I'm so happy to see you.

Here's the full list for all categories at Locus.

[freak-motion]

last network effect chapters destroyed me here's a shitpost

[butchdogs-md]

you need to understand that i have two sets of headcanons. there's the set of realistic headcanons based on my genuine reading of the show, and then there's me playing pretend with my dolls.

[feriowind]

wondering if murderbot should look more stoic despite the anxious thoughts but drawing the anxiety more plainly on its face is more fun lmao

[pangur-and-grim]

I've read a few recently published books, and there's this recurring pattern where if anyone does anything bad and interesting, they have to later talk about it in a way that makes it clear that it was a misunderstanding/ justified/ not their fault, so they're still a good person. and if they have a disagreement with another character, they have to therapy talk it out, regardless of their background. it doesn't matter if this is a street urchin with three teeth who just stabbed and kidnapped someone, you will get eloquent sterile therapy speak that will smooth out any possible emotional tension. and everyone asks for permission before they kiss, and waits for a clear enthusiastic yes. again, doesn't matter the character's background or situation, they will ask "can I please kiss you," because if they didn't, that could get all yucky and uncertain, couldn't it? and if a character is from a rich family, they will hate being in a rich family, and hate wealth signifiers, and actually be all for class equality. and everyone is casually queer, without thought being put into how that would mesh with the society that is being described. like yes, this is violent class-based system obsessed with inheritance, but no, it's not actually a problem that the child they've coldly groomed to take on the family mantle is unwilling to beget an heir because of gay. the parents might be terrible, cruel and fascistic, but they're not homophobic! I don't know, it just seems like EVERYTHING that could actually be messy gets sanded and sanded until it's smooth as a shark, but the Fun Violence is allowed to stay, because bloodshed doesn't actually bother anyone or have any consequence apart from your rogue character shrugging and going oops, was that me? the rogue is still a good person though. if you think they're not, just wait for the two solid pages of introspection. and yes they started the book by slitting two throats, but that was fine. they will ask permission before hugging you.

[pangur-and-grim]

[pangur-and-grim]

I’m still baffled by how many of the responses to this post are “read other books”, because my rant is just pointing out a trend in recently published novels.

we can do a thought experiment: if I, as an individual, read other books, does the trend stop existing, making this observation obsolete?

let’s dig even deeper: what books do I read? the post is about recent-ish books, presumably in the fantasy genre. I don’t explicitly mention that I read old books, translated books, literary books, and award winners. does this mean that I don’t read them? does your teacher sleep in the school? let’s discuss.

[heyheyrenay]

ICYMI Suzanne Palmer has a new book coming out in April: Ode to the Half-Broken

Yesssssss I am VERY excited. I have a copy preordered because I WILL be putting it into my eyeballs immediately.

[incognitopolls]

For this poll, "intergenerational" means an age gap of at least 10 years. Do not count family members. Only count people you would consider actual friends, not just people you interact with.

Do you have any intergenerational friendships?

Yes, with someone younger than me by 10+ years

Yes, with multiple people significantly younger than me

Yes, with someone older than me by 10+ years

Yes, with multiple people significantly older than me

Yes, with people both significantly older and significantly younger

Sort of/it's complicated

No

Voting ended onFeb 10

We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[sarasa-cat]

Maybe this is a sign of "old" (in tumblr's terms for what "old" is) but I'm sorta shocked that TEN YEARS is considered intergenerational by OP. Hell, it is not uncommon for people have siblings that span close to or more than ten years of age difference.

Wouldn't intergenerational be more like, idk, 22-25 years of age difference?

But just sticking with 10+ years, starting from when I was 20-23 I had a number of legit friends more 10+ years older than me via various community organizing groups and groups that did nature education programs. Same occurred in a less organized manner in the music and arts world. It was just normal. Very very normal to be social and do things for fun regardless of age.

[artchivary]

[Voice of someone meeting their soon-to-be best friend in the entire universe]: You made a mistake, Murderbot, a really bad mistake.

Animated version of panel 2 below the cut; warning for bright moving lights/eyestrain.

[yuner0523]

I got bored so here is MB 2.0

It has a ART blanket

[randomishnickname]

One of those fandom things that I love is when there’s new characters around and, with the unwavering confidence of an old farmer appraising cattle, fanfic authors take one good look at them, tilt their imaginary hat, and go “Aye. Praise kink, that one. Mighty case of praise kink if I ever saw one.” And everyone else just “aye.”

[inimitably-ineffable]

Not to mention the plot tropes.

“I don’t think the Highschool AU is going to come in too strong this year. Fandoms a touch jaded for that. But the hurt/comfort is growin’ thick as weeds and twice as fast. It’ll be a good harvest, fer sure.”

[mx-incognito]

@cynaram

[cynaram]

“I hear over at [neighbouring fandom] they’re putting the top field into fix-it fics.”

“Yes, ‘twould be.  They had a hard season last year, a right hard season.” 

[explorerrowan]

“You think I ought to plant a little Sailor Moon Wild West AU? Don’t know if anything would come of it. Might not make it to harvest.”

“Won’t know until you plant it, will you?”

[fieldbears]

“Ah, a heritage crop.”

[captainclickycat]

The shipping forecast.

[romanticalgirl]

The Fandom Almanac

[nyansense-the-nyanbinary]

“I think I’m going to sow some rarepairs this season. Don’t know what the market for ‘em will be, but I can eat ‘em if nobody else wants to.”

[jonairadreaming]

Petition to start referring to fanworks as ‘produce’ and stop calling it ‘content’.

Produce = Fresh. Tasty. Nutritious. Contains some ppm of Love.

Content = Lifeless. Sterile. An obligation.

[my-past-disgusts-me]

Okay okay okay okay. So I read Rogue Protocol yesterday, slept on it, it's still fucking me up whatever. I am so stuck on Murderbot's reaction to Miki. It's so, it's so so resonant with my experiences and what I've seen. The pity, the bitterness, the objective view of Miki's situation soaked in complicated emotions that MB has to work through, the jealousy, oh my god the jealousy. Miki has no specialization, it speaks like a child, it's infantilized, it can't pretend to be a human, it's just a bot, it's stupid, it can't see that it's a pet. "Friend"? Friendship is built on mutual respect. Who could respect Miki? MB certainly doesn't. It respects Miki's autonomy of course, but that's a different kind of respect. That's a base level of respect for sentient beings. It thinks of Miki as a naive idiot, nowhere near the level that Murderbot is operating on. And yet. And yet, Miki is afforded something MB has never* received. Miki is treated as part of its human group, Miki is protected, Miki is loved. Even though MB denies this love until it is proven without any doubt. Proven through Don Abene's respect for Miki's autonomy, something I don't think MB realized humans could have for bots. After all, if humans can't respect a construct's autonomy, something so much more like them than a bot, how could they ever think of bots that way? MB has to hide everything about itself to gain respect and autonomy. Why does Miki get it without doing anything at all?

Being autistic myself and having known all kinds of other autistic people, this hits sickeningly close to home. This is a thought process I am well familiar with, one that I return to in my darker moments even with the knowledge that it's illogical and cruel. There's a sense of superiority you build up as a shield, to explain away all of the ways you're different, to pretend the things that you want aren't there. And when someone who doesn't match that, who is "worse" than you gets those things you've convinced yourself you can't have, it breaks you. And I know this isn't just an autistic experience, I see it everywhere. I see it in trans people, people of color, people with other disabilities, the working class, I see it everywhere, so many underprivileged people feel this way. Some people have confronted it and some have let it morph them into something worse, a cruel pos trying desperately and failing to be "the good one." It's tragic. And my god is it lonely.

It's not surprising that Murderbot is going to Preservation Alliance after this book. After all, *these are the humans who treated Murderbot as a person. Even knowing what it is. Dr. Mensah is the first person it met who wanted to protect it, not the other way around. It needs a reminder that it isn't uniquely unlovable, whether it realizes that or not.

[7l7l7l7l7l7l7l7]

yall ever miss your own energy?? like damn wtf happened to me??

[bleeding-seraphic]

ART being brought back in NE. To me. If you even care

[sightofsea]

being on this site during a current major yaoi event while you're still in the trenches of something long gone like hey I know you guys are having fun over there but does anybody wanna play with this beat up crusty doll i've been throwing against the wall for five years

[imchoccy]

Murderbot Short Stories as Textposts

[documentary-of-a-rogue-secunit]

I do think it's funny that Murderbot complains about all the stuff that it doesn't know because its company didn't teach it anything useful but then when Three spends all its time interacting with nonfiction media and learning stuff mb is like "I don’t get you. Why would you watch nonfiction when there is sanctuary moon"