The Sword and Laser discussion

I thought this article from urban fantasy author Anton Strout was really timely--he discusses how he, like many of us, has become very weary of the outrage/negativity/fighting that's been going on in the geek world, and encourages us to embrace polyfanory, the ability to appreciate more than one thing. It's a great call to action. My favorite bit is:

"I promise you that your passion will kill that hate simply because you’re engaging what is best in you. Even if it doesn’t, it is the journey not the destination that is truly important, and love of anything grows and spreads."

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

https://geekdad.com/2016/05/embracing...

Polyfanory...love it!

I hear him about the nerd shaming that's become common these days. Not sure if it's prevalent, but it really only takes a few instances to become notable. As for me, if a person says they're a fan, they're a fan.

My usual approach is "what's your geek?" as in, what do you love so much you unabashedly express your enjoyment of it, geek style. Mine is SFF, mostly in the science based works. Still love a good Fantasy and will forgive all manner of silly things in comics. My daughter likes anime, my wife more on the women-oriented fantasy books. All of us come together for Doctor Who.

Doctor Who is so easy to come together for :). And I agree--it's hard to tell JUST how prevalent the rage/shaming is, but when your newsfeed is just full of it, it can become consuming. For me, I think the more free people are to love what they love, the better for everyone--it means more conversation and more opportunities.

John (Taloni) wrote: "Polyfanory...love it!

I hear him about the nerd shaming that's become common these days. Not sure if it's prevalent, but it really only takes a few instances to become notable. As for me, if a per..."

Melanie wrote: "I thought this article from urban fantasy author Anton Strout was really timely--he discusses how he, like many of us, has become very weary of the outrage/negativity/fighting that's been going on ..."

The ONLY two things I'm against in the SFF community, of course, are that sketchy Tom Merritt and that doubly sketchy Veronica Belmont!

BURN! (Hi, Anton! Nifty idea, LOVE IT!)

Anton wrote: "The ONLY two things I'm against in the SFF community, of course, are that sketchy Tom Merritt and that doubly sketchy Veronica Belmont! "

and Patrick Rothfuss ;-)

We are complicated beasts. As nerds we get passionate about the things we love. Unfortunately that same passion can sometimes be focused on the things we hate, or think we should not like.
Especially if it is something we hate "about" the thing we love.

I try to focus on the positives of my favourite nerd loves. But I'm not perfect. ;-)

Missing a word here: "And because I’m a big Tolkien nerd, I can’t help but with a quote from "

Doncha hate when that happens?

Just remember to wear protection.

My only quibble is that one of the behaviors that encompasses my enjoyment is picking apart a work, trying to figure out how it works. Especially if the work has some obvious weaknesses, this can look an awful lot like hate to someone who approaches fiction differently. I get a lot of "can't you just enjoy it?" and "stop overthinking it!"

But but but I wanna overthink it. I'm not sure I can help myself. But sometimes I try not to let that processing happen out loud since it upsets some folks.

"Hate" gets a bad rap. I consider it a moral duty, for example, to hate that wretched trailer for the 'new' Ghostbusters; if the trailer is representative of the film, it will be my righteous day as a fan (and sentient life form) to hate that as well.

But as for far lesser matters, like what on Earth people see in Dr. Who? Amity, by all means.

The ending of Lost was sorely disappointing, incidentally. :)

Look, you can like Buster Keaton or you can like Harold Lloyd, but YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY LIKE THEM BOTH