Fandom: Oh, Hugo, Where Have HuGone

[escritoireazul]

If I had an active fannish Twitter or Tumblr, I would have added to my profile: 100% Absolutely Positively Not a Hugo Award Winner. But I don't, so I shan't.

The Fanlore write-up of the controversy.

This is really putting me off the Hugos and Worldcon. Feels like another cultural clash in SFF, and I am really fucking tired of them. They're necessary and good changes can come out of them, but so tired.

Comments

[beer_good_foamy]

Jesus christ. I'd completely missed this.

What happens when a squeeing force meets a mopey object...

[escritoireazul]

Right? I mean, I get it when it comes to things for sale. But all this stuff about people joking around about being a Hugo winner or having it in their profiles, etc., that's such a killjoy thing. Which people then doubled down on about diluting the Hugo award; not in a trademark way, even, but that the award isn't so special if so many people can claim it. Will we ever be done with fucking gatekeeping? I know the answer is no, but still. Come on.

[kore]

Then a white male mansplainer asshole showed up ON AO3 and was like "Let me explain it to you hysterical females," and when he started getting pressed closely by knowledgeable people was like "The answer is 'it depends' and 'I'm not answering that without money.'" It sounded like he wanted people to PAY HIM. And then he admitted he had nothing to do with the Board and it was not his area anyway and he had no fucking experience with this specific thing. Fucking idiot.

[cyprinella]

Yeah, I think that's the guy rahaeli is taking to task on Twitter. The knob.

I also think NeolithicSheep had a good point about it being very much a clash between collective/anarchist thinking vs. hierarchical/capitalist thinking

[kore]

people like JJ and Contrarianus and Hampus are focused on very individualistic capitalist terms - exclusive, special, devalue, debase

That is an excellent point!

And they also seem hyperfocused on the idea that someone will slap "Hugo Nominated" on their fanfic and sell it, which....is not what anyone associated with AO3 has done or would do. (The Puppies, on the other hand....)

[havocthecat]

I mean, that's just the language that the asshole version of attorneys use when they want to sound like fucking know-it-alls but they don't actually know shit and can't back it up without a couple-three hours of research and they don't want to do it for free.

I KNOW. I KNOW THIS ONE. Not only do I work with lawyers, I'm friends with some who ARE ASSHOLES. (I mean, they're larpers, most larpers are assholes, that's just a thing. I love larpers too, that's a paradoxical statement right there, I know.)