In which Sky is gladdened by this sense of community.

[cerulean_sky]

You know, I've been following the SF/F blow up pretty actively. I'm... well, not surprised, but frankly amazed and gladdened to see not just the readers but the writers of SF/F get into these debates, and become a community.

For those wondering, the part that I've been following, started with the now deleted diatribe against "homosex" by John C. Wright. johncwright has since deleted the post, but it was rather... opinionated. It was harsh. The quote I remember best went something like, "I [John C. Wright] am equating homosexuality with bestiality, necrophilia, pederasty, and other sexual neuroses." There were other things in that list, but I can't remember them all.

ETA: For those really interested, the deleted post was cached. It is not necessary to read this in order to get my post, but if you want to see, feel free. Also, apparently, the quote I remembered is from somewhere in the comments, and not included in the cache.

Hal Duncan wrote an open letter to John C. Wright which is long, but every word of it is a piece of brilliance. Elizabeth Bear weighed in, too, insofar as she says that she agrees with Mr. Duncan. So far, though, yuki_onna (author Cat Valente) has had the best response.

From yuki_onna:

"It's a pretty simple equation, really. Limited lifespan divided by number of books it's possible to consume due to vagaries of money and mortality equals I am not buying your books if you behave like a fuckmuppet in public."

(As an aside, "fuckmuppet" is my new favorite curse word.)

"Guys, learn this rule. Love it. Embrace it.

Every time you bloviate offensively on the internet, a reader swears off your work for life.

It is so easy to lose readers. A cranky day at a con will do it. A single bad book will do it. Insulting an entire swath of readers, calling them evil and immoral, or shouting their concerns down and swearing at them? Especially when SFF readership has rather a lot of the sort of readers you're likely to insult with this kind of nonsense? Will do it so incredibly efficiently it'll make Bookscan spin. Especially if you happen to be a midlist or indie writer, and can't weather decreased sales with a shrug and a grin."

(I have added her to my friends.)

P.S. He seems to be sorry. Though, uh, apparently he had to talk to angels in order to achieve that.

P.P.S. If anyone has any questions about what happened/is happen, feel free to ask. I shall try to answer as best I can.

P.P.P.S. John C. Wright and his wife are both Johnnies (alums of my soon-to-be school). I was slightly sickened upon learning of this.

Comments

[elfwithawand.livejournal.com]

oh, god. FAIL. FAILFAILFAIL.

[cerulean-sky.livejournal.com]

I didn't even go into the things his wife had to say about race.

(Ok, to be fair, she's not really racist, just... ignorant.)

[elfwithawand.livejournal.com]

*headdesk*

[cerulean-sky.livejournal.com]

Actually, Cat Valente's response is probably worth reading even if you don't know the cause. It's a good thing for a writer to know.

[lumi21.livejournal.com]

Fuckmuppet is the best word I have added to my vocabulary in a very long time.

Don't feel too bad about idiots who happen to share your alma mater. LOTS of people do; there are always a handful of bad apples.

[cerulean-sky.livejournal.com]

I am also a fan of "fuckmuppetry" because of how it rolls off the tongue.

[elfypiratequeen.livejournal.com]

Uh, wow. Is it just me, or does the sff community seem to have more than its fair share of vocal fuckmuppets on the internets?

[cerulean-sky.livejournal.com]

I think pretty much every community does. (I mean, those with ties to the internets. Obviously the others will have fuckmuppets who aren't vocal on the internets.)

Really, the wank was the reason I left fandom. I'm just glad this happens to much less frequently in the SF/F community.

[elfypiratequeen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess sff is really the only community I follow online. Seriously, though, Cat Valente had an excellent response, but with that horrible mortified fascination that occasionally inspires me to read through all the awful comments, I did read through all the awful comments on that second link she posted. (I do something like that every few months, and then remember why I should never read the comments.) My brain, it hurts. People are excruciatingly ignorant.

[cerulean-sky.livejournal.com]

Yeeeeah. I did the same thing, actually. I only got about halfway through before I had to go do things, and by the time I got back, I was so not interested in finishing reading. Still, I agree with you. Ignorant people make my want to cry.

[marielyuy.livejournal.com]

Homosex? Seriously? That sounds like some petulant little kid that says "Ewww, cooties." Way to sound like your opinion is important, Wright.

I had no idea who this person was before reading this, and his original post is so full of fail that I can't wrap my mind around it. His weird assumptions about racism, smoking, bestiality, and drug use were kind of out-there. It's like "I will throw in many controversial issues in the hope that it might give my post some validity, even though I can't spell the word 'severely'."

It reminds of a billboard I saw on the interstate in SC...it said "Heterosexual? It's okay..." and then had a URL for a Christian website. Like suddenly straight people are being oppressed now. *rolls eyes*

[elfypiratequeen.livejournal.com]

Heterosexual? It's okay...

I'm sorry, honey, I just can't consummate our church-and-state-sanctioned heterosexual marriage knowing that there are GAY people out there doing the SAME THING!

Now that's oppression.