The Madness of the Puppy Kickers

I was going to do an entire post dedicated to my upcoming nonfiction history, For All Their Wars are Merry, but no, this had to happen.

So, Beth Elderkin of Io9 is apparently a deranged, psychotic nutjob, and she apparently gets paid for it.

Harsh, you say? Well, that depends, how do you read this comment on one of her articles?



If you're answer is "I can't really read that comment, the lettering is too small," here, let me show you.

WARNING: RATED-R LANGUAGE ALERT.

"Can’t these stupid puppy assholes be euthanized or something like unclaimed strays at the pound? The fact that sci-fi and fantasy conventions have to create a new set of awards because the genre’s most prestigious and well respected award organization have been ruined by xenophobic idiots and people who don’t understand the progressive nature of science fiction’s foundation shit their pants every time they don’t get their way is dispiriting to fans of the genre at large. If these assholes had their way, Uhura would have been played by Donna Reed and Star Trek would have never been the game changer it was in the 60s."

Wow. Nicely done. Hmm... Does Elderkin NOT reply to her comments? Because this looks like something the mods should be hitting the panic button over.

Nope. Not a single blink.

Can we break down that statement for a moment?

"Can’t these stupid puppy assholes be euthanized or something like unclaimed strays at the pound?"

Can't these stupid puppy kicking psychos be tranquilized? Or at least investigated for inciting assassination of puppies?

"The fact that sci-fi and fantasy conventions have to create a new set of awards because the genre’s most prestigious and well respected award organization have been ruined by xenophobic idiots and people who don’t understand the progressive nature of science fiction’s foundation shit their pants every time they don’t get their way is dispiriting to fans of the genre at large."

Seriously, learn punctuation. Run on sentences are bad.

Also, "the genre's most prestigious and well well respected award organization" has been overrun with, well, deranged, murderous nutjobs like yourselves. I'd say that we "don't feel safe" around people openly advocating our assassination, but it's more accurate to say that we're bored and annoyed with being spat on in this fashion. Also, I would have sworn that many of this quack's fellow travelers insisted that non CHORFs go play with their own awards.

Well, we found one we're happy with. Can't you be happy?

Apparently not, because this is a CHORF. They don't believe in being happy. That's why they're Childish, Histrionic, Obsessive Reactionary Fanatics. If they could be happy, they'd get a life.

And "the progressive nature of science fiction’s foundation" ... you do realize that includes Robert Heinlein? HP Lovecraft? Other people with decidedly un-PC opinions?

"If these assholes had their way, Uhura would have been played by Donna Reed and Star Trek would have never been the game changer it was in the 60s"

You realized that a large part of the reason that Star Trek was a game changer was, you know, having a science fiction world where World War III happened, and the future didn't SUCK after that? And perhaps having good stories? Or perhaps having ideas without cramming them down people's throat?

Also, Donna Reed was a big enough star that I think their ratings would have gone up. Heck, they probably would have made her the Captain.

I don't think I've seen quite this many stupid concepts jammed into one space before. Of course, the run on sentence as well.

What started public homicidal rages. What did Elderkin post? Well, I'll give you a hint, Brian Niemeier had to change the title of their article for them.

Yeah. io9 had to make DragonCon about the Hugos. Can they get more self centered?

I mean, look at how it starts!

A lot of people in the scifi/fantasy fiction community are still hurting after two seasons of Hugo Awards drama, but another competition is trying to bridge the divide.

"A lot"? Before Puppies got involved, barely 2000 people voted in the Hugos every year. WorldCon membership shot up for Sad Puppies 3. DragonCon has 60,000 people. Trust me, "a lot" is relative.

And "bridge the divide" ... seriously? Are you huffing glue?

The Verge called the nomination list a “bit of a compromise between various factions within fandom,” with nominees ranging from the popular to the obscure, with even some self-published works. Part of this is attributed to the fact that you don’t need a membership in any organization to vote for the Dragon Awards—they’re free and open to the public.

It also could be because it doesn’t look like either Sad Puppies or Rabid Puppies released Dragon Awards-specific slates.

Pardon me while I slam my head against a wall for a moment. Because the title says that those dirty puppies are mostly exorcised. Then it's "a compromise," then they note that NO PUPPIES DID ANYTHING FOR THE DRAGON AWARDS. AT ALL. Unless you count individuals like me, who wanted a shot at being nominated.

So, where do the Puppies enter into this? At all?

I guess having an entire headline called "DRAGON CON RELEASED NON-POLITICAL AWARD FOR FANS, BY FANS" wouldn't have caught as many people's attention, would it?

But wait, it gets dumber.

The 2016 Rabid Puppies slate has dominated this year’s list of [Hugo] nominees...

In comparison, a couple of Castalia House books were nominated for Dragon Awards this year, but the presence is nowhere near the onslaught that’s overtaken the Hugo Awards two years in a row. 

Hey, Beth, you realize that last year was the year of the SAD Puppies, and this was the year of the RABID puppies, and that the two this year looked really sort of different? Didn't catch that?

And, really, "Castalia House" is somehow the end all and be all of the Rabid Puppy list? Please, continue to not pay attention.  Because, oh, look, the Rabid Puppy list had ... The Cinder Spires, and Naomi Novik, The Sandman: Overture, by Gaiman. The Martian film,

NONE of those being published by Castalia, and, also, NOMINATED FOR A DRAGON.

Twit.

So, how about we both stop pretending like you've actually done any actual research for this story you pulled from the air?

How about we go through the actual lists, shall we? If you have the attention span, Beth.

1. Best Science Fiction Novel

Somewhither: A Tale of the Unwithering Realm by John C. Wright (Sad, Rabid)
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (Sad Puppy. Yes, really.)

2. Best Fantasy Novel (Including Paranormal)

The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher (Sad Puppy, Rabid Puppy)
Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia (Sad Puppies)
Changeling’s Island by Dave Freer (A Sad Puppy Author).

3. Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel

Changeling’s Island by Dave Freer  (A Sad Puppy Author).
Calamity by Brandon Sanderson  (A Sad Puppy Author).

4. Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel

The End of All Things by John Scalzi (A SAD PUPPY NOMINEE. Heh)

5. Best Alternate History Novel

1635: A Parcel of Rogues by Eric Flint & Andrew Dennis  (Flint, A Sad Puppy Author).
League of Dragons by Naomi Novik  (A Sad Puppy nominated Author).
1636: The Cardinal Virtues by Eric Flint & Walter H. Hunt (Flint,  (A Sad Puppy Author).)

6. Best Apocalyptic Novel

Ctrl Alt Revolt! by Nick Cole  (A Sad Puppy supporter ... Castalia House).
A Time to Die by Mark Wandrey (A Sad Puppy supporter)
Chasing Freedom by Marina Fontaine (A Sad Puppy supporter)

7. Best Horror Novel

Souldancer by Brian Niemeier (A Sad AND Rabid Puppy Author).
Honor at Stake by Declan Finn (A Sad Puppy Author).

9. Best Graphic Novel

The Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman (Rabid Puppy)

So, right there, that's 17 nominees that either showed up on a Puppy list, or support the Puppies. Shockingly, most of them aren't Castalia either.

This took me a whole fifteen minutes to pull together while reading two lists, and chatting with three people on Facebook. Where the hell were you, Elderkin?

Now, this is mostly a casual reading of where the Hugo awards and the Dragons over. Brian Niemeier pulled together 27 works and authors on the Sad Puppies 4 reading list. And it's more like 31. Out of 76 entries.

So, "mostly" Puppy Free, huh?

Well, it explains the homicidal comments below. The cognitive dissonance must have driven her readers around the bend.

No, honestly, how does a company allow a person like this to be on their roles? Truly, this is not only bad journalism, it's incompetent. In fact, even as propaganda, it's crap. It's inept, and forced. Trying to stuff Sad Puppies into the Dragon Awards, even though no puppies ran lists or slates for the Dragons is desperate. Why couldn't it be "Hey, Sad Puppies 4 was entirely fan voted. So were the Dragon Awards. For that reason, there was some overlap. I'm shocked."

Why? Because .... they're both fan nominated, and you vote for free. Therefore, there was overlap. I'm shocked.

Seriously, Sad Puppies was all about HAVING FUN BOOKS GET AWARDS. The Dragon seems to be about HAVING FUN BOOKS GET AWARDS. Why would anyone be surprised about an overlap? It would have been better had Elderkin just dismissed the overlap, like I did.

Now, seriously, I have to ask ... is it really worth getting pissed off over a cheap looking plastic rocket? The homicidal nature of her comments are deranged, violent, even by my standards, and .... no, really, how do Elderkin's readers sleep at night? This one twit comes off as so pissed that s/he should be awake at night with their ulcer.

Anyway. if you want, Brian Niemeier has his post.

Larry Correia also dismantles the stupidity.

Anyway, it's only io9. Hulk Hogan will fire her later, I'm sure.

Anyway, I hope you've all had a laugh. And remember, you can vote for the Dragon Awards until almost the last minute. So have fun.

Anyway, if you haven't already, you might want to pick up Honor at Stake. 

Preferably before you vote for it in the Dragon Awards.