Having read my friend Rob’s delightful piece this morning, I thought I’d follow; with a few thoughts of my own.
I am a fan.
I never needed to go to cons to prove it.
I also never had to pass a fan knowledge or political litmus test.
I became a fan the moment Apollo and Starbuck first hit their TURBO buttons and blasted out of the Galactica’s launch tubes.
I became a fan because the crew of the Phoenix daily saved Earth from the plots of Zoltar, and planet Spectra.
I became a fan because Lando said “Punch it!” and Luke brazenly challenged Vader thus: “You’ll find I’m full of surprises!”
I became a fan because Admiral Kirk looked into the viewscreen and taunted, “I’m laughing at the superior intellect.”
I became a fan because Lynda Carter captivated, as Princess Diana.
I became a fan because Erin Gray was the boss, as Colonel Deering.
I became a fan because Roy Fokker showed Rick Hunter how to fight the Zentraedi war machine.
I am a fan because, for Jack Burton, it was all in the reflexes.
I am a fan because the Enterprise boldly went where no one had gone before.
I am a fan because of Han Solo’s Revenge.
I am a fan because of The Artifact.
I am a fan because, “Death came quietly to The Row.”
I am a fan because Picard said, “Make it so.”
I am a fan because a coward learned to have courage.
I am a fan because of Diane Duane and A.C. Crispin.
I am a fan because of Orson Scott Card and Larry Niven.
I am a fan because of Red Mars and A Fire Upon The Deep.
I am a fan because Samwise the gardener carried Frodo the ringbearer up the slopes of Mount Doom.
I am a fan because of Kzinti, Pierson’s Puppeteers, Protectors, and Grendels.
I am a fan because no matter what the universe throws at us, mankind will find a way to prevail.
As a fan, I want to adventure to new worlds, with new civilizations.
As a fan, I prefer that my heroes be manly and courageous.
As a fan, I prefer that my heroines be strong as well as beautiful.
As a fan, I prefer that my villains be deliciously villainous.
As a fan, I believe in real endings that inspire.
As a fan, I like it when they get married happily every after!
As a fan, I reject all criticisms that begin with, “You’re not a real fan, if . . .”
As a fan, I reject cynicism, nihilism, moral ambiguity, and various other assassins of hope.
As a fan, I embrace the sinner, while rejecting the sin.
As a fan, I want a story, not a sermon.
As a fan, I don’t want to be talked down to.
As a fan, I do not want to be lectured.
As a fan, I don’t need you to check my “privilege” for me.
As a fan, I don’t need my soul policed.
As a fan, I embrace content of character, over color of skin.
I remain a fan, because I want to experience a bona fide sense of wonder.
I remain a fan, because my lusty eyes are forever turned upward to the stars.
I remain a fan, because I believe in having fun.
And nobody can ever take any of that away from me.
Amen.
Ladies and gentlemen, the floor is yours. Please share your FANifestos.
Brad R. Torgersen 
OK, heeding your call to arms, https://westfargomusings.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/a-fan-in-my-own-way/
Reblogged this on and commented:
Superb thoughts from a Hugo nominee
Hooah, Kamas!
Thanks, Patrick.
I’m a fan ‘cuz I coughed up 40 Murkan Bux so my vote will count this year?
Hmm for me it boils down to this. I’m a fan because *I* determine who and what *I* am. What *I* like to read, listen to, watch and think.
Because *I* am a free being. And for those that can’t understand that and want to tell me different? I’ll simply tell them “go fuck yourself with a razor wire wrapped sex toy you fascist little bitch”
Yes, Brad, all of the above.
I’m a lifelong fan because of H. Beam Piper, Andre Norton, Robert E. Howard, Robert A. Heinlein, Poul Anderson, Roger Zalazny, Robin Scott, and several others.
I’m a fan because of Worlds of If, Galaxy, Analog, Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Amazing Stories.
I’m a fan because of Star Trek in all of it’s segments, be it TV or the movies.
I’m a fan of Star Wars.
I’m a fan because when Serenity took it’s dive towards the planet, I was in the copilot seat.
I’m a fan because of David Drake, Glen Cook, Patricia Briggs, Larry Correia and a few of the newer authors.
I’m a fan because most of the above valued story over message.
My favorite line: I am a fan because no matter what the universe throws at us, mankind will find a way to prevail.
That’s what I like best about science fiction.
Amen… Getting in plain so no time for my thoughts
My very first crush was on Astro Boy, shortly followed by Speed Racer, shortly followed by Spock and Sulu. I should note that I was four when Astro Boy and Speed Racer stole my heart, and five when I discovered Star Trek.
By age six, my love of Star Trek got me into my first fannish fight. See, there were these boys in my first grade class who kept calling it “Star TRACK.” 😉
I’m a fan because of Anne McCaffrey. I’m a fan because of Patricia Briggs. I’m a fan because of Elizabeth Moon. I’m a fan because of Diane Duane. I’m a fan because of Lois McMaster Bujold. I’m a fan because of C.J. Cherryh. I’m a fan because of Barbara Hambly. I’m a fan because of Terry Pratchett. I’m a fan because of Ursula Vernon. I’m a fan because of N.K. Jemisin. I’m a fan because of Samuel R. Delaney. I’m a fan because of Orson Scott Card. I’m a fan because of Ann Leckie. I’m a fan because of Charles De Lint. I’m a fan because of Spider Robinson. I’m a fan because of Rachel Swirsky. I’m a fan because of Charles Stross. I’m a fan because of Marion Zimmer Bradley.
I’m a fan because of Robert A. Heinlein. I’m a fan because of Arthur C. Clarke. I’m a fan because of Isaac Asimov. I’m a fan because of C.L. Moore.
I love potboilers and also difficult books that make me see the world in a new way. I like my heroes to be compassionate, clever and funny, and my heroines to be smart, determined and at least a little brave. Beauty is nice but optional for both.
And I care about social justice and make a point of seeking out women and minority writers and characters.
Nobody gets to tell me I’m not a fan. And anyone who claims I don’t want people to read, or that I want to kill science fiction, is a lying liar who lies. A lot.
Well, Cat. I think that most of us can sympathize with, “And anyone who claims I don’t want people to read, or that I want to kill science fiction, is a lying liar who lies. A lot.”
Try also “Anyone who claims I want to force out women or people of color is a lying liar who lies a lot.”
Also “Anyone who claims that science fiction is not historically, nearly fanatically, inclusive in outlook, is a lying liar, who lies. A lot.”
Or “Anyone who tells anyone that Adam Baldwin being a guest somewhere makes them “unsafe” is a mendacious lying liar who lies, professionally, a lot.”
Or “Anyone who says Larry Corriea is a scary man who probably beats his wife and hates people of color or women is a lying liar who lies. A lot.”
And “Anyone who says that Larry Corriea attending a convention they want to attend will make them “unsafe” is a mendacious lying liar who lies, professionally, a lot.”
I’m used to being lied about. A lot. I’m used to my friends being lied about. A lot.
Challenge accepted! http://karyenglish.com/2015/02/on-discovering-sff-and-becoming-a-fan/
I don’t care about social justice and I make it a point to annoy women and minorities whenever possible. Plus I like throwing cats out of windows. Sometimes they hit telephone wires and spin like helicopters. I like helping old ladies into the middle of a busy intersection and then run away like crazy. I like to throw shopping carts down elevator shafts. I wish they had more science fiction about throwing shopping carts down elevators shafts. And cats spinning like helicopters.
I raise my bat’leth to you warrior, well said!
MY FANISESTO:
I don’t demand minute historical accuracy, but don’t insult my intelligence and tell me a freaking STORY.
I don’t demand an absolute adherence to my personal politics, but don’t insult my intelligence and tell me a FREAKING STORY.
I don’t demand that humans always be good, but don’t insult my intelligence and TELL ME A FREAKING STORY!!!!!!!
TELL. ME. A. STORY.
It doesn’t have to stroke my ego. It doesn’t have to be filled with nothing but cute and cuddles. It doesn’t have to have a happy ending. JUST. TELL. ME. A. STORY.
If you CAN’T tell me a story, then please go do something else. Go back to political activism. Take up smoking Meth. Become a missionary in Darkest Alabama. Something.
Because Novels written for the Moral Instruction of whoever are a glut. And with occasional exceptions (that tell FREAKING STORY) like BEN HUR, they are pretty goddamned dismal. And often, in hindsight, pretty grotesquely off base. Think not? Go read some examples of Victorian Moral Novels. ERIC, OR LITTLE BY LITTLE springs to mind.
I’m a fan because Captain Picard said, “Come.” 🙂
So you’ve talked a lot about how you’d like current SF/F to change; especially in relation to what works get the Hugo award. You’ve posted the above to establish your right for your opinion to be listened to. Can people who would like their opinions about video games listened to post a similar listing and will you take it seriously? Will you speak up when #Gammergaters try to disqualify critics as “not real gamers”?
I ask because a some of the most vocal puppies are vocal gamergaters and your opinion would likely carry weight with them.
Time,
I can’t speak to the GamerGate thing, mostly because I am far outside of that specific controversy and I am a very casual gamer at best. Mostly, I just don’t have the time anymore, and the games I do play are old games. History has passed me by.
I know that Vox Day works in the gaming industry and that many Rabid Puppies supporters are potentially GamerGaters too.
From what I’ve had Vox tell me, the GamerGater premise is this:
– Gamers just want to play the games they like to play.
– Gamers just want to make the games they like to make.
– If people want to make different games, by all means, let them make those games.
– Stop telling gamers they’re having fun wrong.
That’s perhaps a too simplistic take, but I could ask Vox if he can comment further.
From my outsider’s perspective, GamerGate and the Hugos (“HugoGate”) are somewhat related, but different arguments. SAD PUPPIES 3 is explicitly about altering the Hugo selection process so that it’s more inclusive of the field as a whole. As opposed to the rut the Hugos have been in, where certain publishers get ignored, and a certain affirmative action mindset creates a pattern we (SP3) believe is worth counteracting.
GamerGate seems to be about gamers (et al) saying, “Let us play what we want to play, let us make what we want to make, and leave us the hell alone.”
Vox? Do I have that right?
Dear Time123,
Yours is a logical fallacy. In the case of SJW, they are claiming we are not real fans because we have not read and enjoyed science fiction books, and have not gone to cons. The accusation is simply false, because we have.
In the case of GG, real hardcore gamers are claiming people who play Candy Crush on their smartphones are not real gamers because they have not played and enjoyed the games in the gaming world. The accusation is true, because they have not.
We slans are not saying ‘If you watched the Star Trek cartoon once, you are a science fiction fan’ we are saying, ‘I have read every frelling word JRR Tolkien, Robert Heinlein and AE Van Vogt ever committed to paper, by Noshabkeming, including his freaking laundry lists, so for you to say I am not a fan based on my political beliefs differing from your is bullhooplah.’
Likewise, the claim of the Gamergaters is that casual gamers who play ‘Depression Quest’ are not gamers on the ground that they do not game, not because their political beliefs differ from real gamers.
I hope you see the difference between being told ‘You are a Christian therefore you are not and cannot be a science fiction fan, even though you speak Elvish and Klingon and know the difference between the the jale and ulfire of Tormance versus the eighth and ninth Barsoomian Ray: you must be a politically correct Leftist to be qualified to have an opinion on Science Fiction’ and being told, ‘If you do not game, you are not a gamer.’
This is all essentially correct, yes, although it delves to the heart of the matter and omits the superficial aspects.
Basically, two women and a man who pretends to be a woman, Zoe Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian, and Brianna Wu (in GamerGate parlance, Literally Who, Literally Who 2, and Literally Wu), have been scamming donors, corporations, and the media by claiming that they are being attacked, oppressed, raped, drugged, sodomized, and otherwise threatened by #GamerGate.
None of it is true. What’s really happening is that the game journalism sites like Polygon, Kotaku, Joystiq and so forth are utterly corrupt as well as being full of SJWs. They actually had a JournoList-style setup where they would coordinate stories declaring stupid things like “Gaming is Dead” and so forth. After Zoe Quinn’s ex-boyfriend busted her for cheating on him with a number of different guys, some of whom were game journalists, and game journalists thanked in the credit of her “game” (a choose-your-own adventure text-based thing circa 1983), the mailing list was uncovered and many complaints about the complete lack of ethics in game journalism were launched. It was originally called The Quinnspiracy, but Adam Baldwin tweeted about it and gave it the hashtag #GamerGate, and the name stuck.
(Keep in mind that the state of game journalism is absolutely dreadful. They don’t really play the games, they don’t really like the games, and many developers won’t even talk to them because they know they’re going to get asked stupid questions about why the characters don’t have nappy hair or why the female characters breasts are too big, or too small, or whatever rather than about the games. I know whereof I speak, as in addition to being an active lead designer, I was the second nationally syndicated game reviewer and a reviewer for Computer Gaming World and Electronic Entertainment.)
So, rather than dealing with their internal problems, the game journalists attacked their own readers. They still claim the focus of #GamerGate is harassing LW, LW2, and LWu, in addition to unidentified other women, but it’s all bullshit. The main activity has been identifying damning quotes by SJW gaming journalists and emailing them to the advertisers of sites. Gawker is reported to have lost over $1 million in advertising, Joystiq has closed down, and numerous SJWs from various sites have been fired as a result.
Of course, since the media loves the narrative of poor persecuted women, the LWs are milking it for all that it is worth. But at the end of the day, the real issue is SJWs in the game media trying to shame and pressure game developers into making the sort of games they think should be made rather than the sort of games we want to make and gamers want to play.
Will you speak up when #Gammergaters try to disqualify critics as “not real gamers”?
Why? They’re not. Anita Sarkeesian is not a gamer. She never has been. Zoe Quinn isn’t a real game developer. Brianna Wu is a legitimate game developer, albeit a very insignificant one.
And furthermore, we reject those who are, by their own admission, attempting to change gaming culture from its roots, which lie in board-and-counter wargames. “Gamer” is originally short for “wargamer” and is now used as shorthand for “hard core gamer”. They don’t like the culture, fine. They’re not gamers. There is no place in gamer culture for those who try to tell others what to make and what to play.
Nobody gets to tell me I’m not a fan. And anyone who claims I don’t want people to read, or that I want to kill science fiction, is a lying liar who lies. A lot.
No one is saying you’re not a fan. But we do observe that you’re a fan of child molesters, sexual deviants, and liars. It really doesn’t speak well for you. Then again, neither do your lying posts about #GamerGate.
Being sort of on the fringes I’ve heard claims that Sarkesian isn’t a gamer. Sort of the way Tipper Gore wasn’t a gamer. Quinn is portrayed as a power hungry con artist. Wu is portrayed as a legitimate but annoying developer. Now I don’t doubt at all that they may well receive threats, even serious ones. The lie involves who is sending them and a supposed one sidedness to it. People BELIEVE that the extreme bad behavior is sanctioned and entirely one sided and poor little cupcakes in Australia are fainting over the thought of Adam Baldwin attending Supanova. They post cute little knowing whimpers about how horrible the Right is in America and examples of political doxxing no one ever heard of … Shocking! Meanwhile leftist thugs picket the home of relatives, harass and frighten the children or parents of people like Scott Walker.
I’ve never seen a gamer gater advocate doxxing or threats. I have seen the political left organize seiges of people’s homes. I’ve seen SJW mobs harass people at their jobs and get them fired. This isn’t some nut acting on his own. This is public, publicized, advocated, and bragged about. And suddenly the same essential group of activists can’t have their righteousness questioned?
There is no place in gamer culture for those who try to tell others what to make and what to play.
It’s this line here that’s key. If you’re rating games or reviewing science fiction and you place anything above the enjoyment of the genre, like politics, you’re not acting as a gamer or fan.
I like movies. If people ask me what movies are good, I can answer. Personally, I have no interest in watching propaganda pieces for odious political regimes like The Battleship Potemkin or Triumph of the Will, regardless of their status as influential films. What I do if asked about those movies as answer honestly; those movies are highly regarded for their production, yet I will not watch them due to their politics. I don’t lie and say that they are horrible movies, or demand that no one watch them. I certainly wouldn’t strike them from history or campaign to remove them from lists of influential films, or trash their ratings. I don’t sacrifice my integrity as a movie viewer by placing my politics above honesty in reviewing, and I suggest that people review all the facts before making their own decisions, even those that disagree with my own conclusion, and I respect those that come to different conclusions.
For me, that was the cardinal sin behind both GamerGate and the Hugo controversy; reviewers acting not as impartial reviewers first, but as political operatives first. If you’d rather have a mediocre game that meets your politics than a good game that doesn’t (or, by proxy, if your definition of a ‘good game’ requires it meeting non-gaming qualifications like political factors) then you’re not acting as a gamer. To the extent that the SJW critics have shown that they place politics before the enjoyment of games and science fiction, they are not acting as gamers or sci-fi fans.
Despite the horrible regimes they were written to support, as explicit propaganda pieces even, The Battleship Potemkin and Triumph of the Will are still remembered as movies because of the quality of their production. I played Bioshock; although not a particular fan of Ayn Rand, I think the game did a disservice to her politics, but I could ignore that because the game was good (not great, but good enough), and it helped that the Randian villain Andrew Ryan was presented not as a one-dimensional political prop, but as a memorable figure with some redeeming characteristics.
I’ve never seen a gamer gater advocate doxxing or threats. I have seen the political left organize seiges of people’s homes. I’ve seen SJW mobs harass people at their jobs and get them fired. This isn’t some nut acting on his own. This is public, publicized, advocated, and bragged about. And suddenly the same essential group of activists can’t have their righteousness questioned?
I’m an old-school tabletop and dice game geek. I want to know what the rules are, both written and unwritten, and I will obey the rules if my opponents do, and given those rules I will play to win. If harassment or hate speech is grounds for being kicked out of the game (even if it comes from your vaguely-defined followers, as in Adam Baldwin’s case), I know a lot of people on the SJW side that qualify, or worse. The GamerGater’s seem to be thinking like me, and have realized that SJWs have been holding people to rules that they themselves won’t follow. Is it any surprise that some may have decided to throw all the rules out the window?
Brad says: GamerGate seems to be about gamers (et al) saying, “Let us play what we want to play, let us make what we want to make, and leave us the hell alone.”
Ahem. The offence of Anita Sarkeesian, for example, seems to be that she pointed out in her videos that in many games women are nothing more than background decoration or sexual playthings. Because of that, people send her rape threats and images where video game characters are having sex with her. Somebody made a game where you beat her face by clicking on it. That’s pretty vile stuff, when all she did was state a simple fact. Saying that most gamers, game developers and playable characters are male and that’s a masculine subculture is a valid opinion, after all, isn’t it?
Because of that, people send her rape threats and images where video game characters are having sex with her. Somebody made a game where you beat her face by clicking on it.
Attention: there are people on the internet that are jerks. That is all.
People on the internet, of all political persuasions, get called names and some get sent horrible threats. I know of a handful that have had anything more than words directed at them, usually in the form of a SWAT team, and from examples I’ve seen it’s been conservatives that have been on the receiving end of that when it’s been political.
You’ve reduced Anita’s more complex arguments to the most trivially true version, stripping out the offensive bits, without offering any counterarguments. Sure, what she said is true about some games, but that can’t be extrapolated to all games or all gamers. Calling what she actually said, not the stripped down version, a ‘simple fact’ is deceptive. It’s a simple fact for me to say that some feminists hate men, I can go out and find plenty of examples. If I say most feminists hate men, that’s a completely different argument requiring a lot more proof.
It’s equally true for me to say that most men in video games are nothing more than mindless targets to be killed out of hand, whose lives are nothing more than trivial throw-away objects. Most characters (of both genders or neither) in video games are background decoration. If I’m telling a story on a battlefield, especially a semi-realistic historic one, of course females will not play a major role in the story. What we’re saying is that having a female character doesn’t make a game good and lacking female characters doesn’t make a game bad, and if you’re judging a game by the absence or presence of female characters instead of the gameplay, especially as a reviewer, you’re doing gamers as a disservice by putting politics before gaming. If you want a game with a strong female character, there are many good ones out there, but they are not good because they feature a strong female character, they’re good because they have good gameplay. If you think there should be more, then help create more, but don’t expect us to give you a better review than you deserve just because you used a different character type.
The same can be said of science fiction.
If someone said, for example, GTA is a horrible game that lets you rape women… I doubt even people who like to play it would disagree. If someone said that they don’t like shooters and asked for more choices… Who out there opposes more choices? I only play PVE MMORPGs. I like the cooperative elements, running around landscapes, fighting monsters and getting to be a bad *ss and busty barbarian. I particularly like the dress – up part where I get to build up a wardrobe of super sexy and flamboyant plate armor that barely covers the important parts.
Oops.
Turns out I’m having fun the wrong way. Turns out that I’m guilty of harassing women and creating an exploitative environment. Turns out my way to have fun shouldn’t be allowed.
Point out that, hey, such and such a game is all damsel in distress and when you win you get the girl and the only sane response is… Good choice, that really ties into some primal imperatives.
If someone said, for example, GTA is a horrible game that lets you rape women… I doubt even people who like to play it would disagree.
GTA is, from what I have heard, a great game that lets you do horrible things (I played III, and it wasn’t to my tastes, but I recognize that it wasn’t a bad game). The old complaint was people didn’t like having no moral agency for their characters in the story. Game developers responded by giving the player agency over what their character can do, and it’s no surprise that some people do the worst. Even then, it’s hard to write a story where someone can’t take the absolute worst interpretation of what you do which the author/creator sees as good and paint it as evil.
It’s not always clear that allowing people to do horrible stuff in games is always a bad thing. I still try to fit pencil and dice tabletop RPGs into my schedule (increasingly taken up by PVE MMORPGs). I know some of the nicest real life people that love to play utter Chaotic Evil villain protagonists and can leave that at the table.
Actually a lot of games give players the opportunity to be bad and they don’t always reward you for making moral choices. Can you really play GTA as a good guy? Or just as a less of a bad guy? (I’m not going to say people shouldn’t play it either way.)
Actually a lot of games give players the opportunity to be bad and they don’t always reward you for making moral choices. Can you really play GTA as a good guy? Or just as a less of a bad guy? (I’m not going to say people shouldn’t play it either way.)
I’m not directly familiar with any of the GTA games past III, but my understanding is you’re never a ‘good’ person, but it can vary between killing only other bad guys through killing good guys who are trying to kill you because you are a bad guy to going out of your way to hurt innocents that pose no threat to you. All evil, but at varying levels.
Reblogged this on Artraccoon's Hidden Fortress and commented:
I very much agree with Brad’s sentiment , and that’s why I got involved with the whole Sad Puppies movement. I want to help “save the soul” of Science Fiction, at all levels, and not let it become the dull, gray, and warped tool of the politically correct SMOFs , Social Justice Warriors, and would be social engineers. I want to preserve it’s artistry, fun, freedom of expression and true diversity of ideas.
Civilis: People on the internet, of all political persuasions, get called names and some get sent horrible threats.
The most horrible stuff I have come across has been invariably directed at female feminists, but I cannot be aware of everything that goes on.
You’ve reduced Anita’s more complex arguments to the most trivially true version, stripping out the offensive bits, without offering any counterarguments. Sure, what she said is true about some games, but that can’t be extrapolated to all games or all gamers. Calling what she actually said, not the stripped down version, a ‘simple fact’ is deceptive.
I haven’t watched all of her videos, but so far I haven’t seen anything offensive per se. I don’t doubt that there are some sensible counter-arguments (that’s the case with all arguments, isn’t it?). She posits that a number of mainstream games include sexist elements and therefore gaming culture can be said to be sexist to some extent. Whether you think that assertion is factual or not depends on your view of what makes a subculture sexist.
I find it slightly amusing that the actual post is about why it is unacceptable to say that someone isn’t a real SFF fan, and in the comments mr. Beale raves about how Anita Sarkeesian is not a real gamer.
I am not familiar with the entire Sad Puppies slate, but as a nerd, I was reading John C Wright while deployed to a combat zone. For people to deliberately No Vote him just because of insufficient Social Justice Warrior credentials…well let me say that Sasquan has sold yet another membership.
Amy, I think you’re not alone! The fan backlash (against the mandarins of Science Fiction political correctness) has been selling more Sasquan (and MidAmeriCon II) memberships than any kind of PR campaign on the part of Worldcon proper. Frankly, Worldcons in recent years should thank Larry Correia for all this free publicity. Larry has put tends of thousands of dollars into their pockets, and he’s not seen a dime for his trouble.
I became a fan because of Spock; I’m old enough to have learned from the original. And the next thing I discovered was Conan, at the usedbook store. As the years progressed I gradually grew bored with everything outside of SF/F. I guess that means I’m a fulltime fan. 😉