Will Shetterly's Blog, page 48

Niceness versus civility

The hardest thing to understand is an idea you accepted before you knew you could question it. Like most of us, I was taught to be nice while I was learning to speak. For decades, I had the vaguest idea of the differences between niceness and civility, but watching people rage at the idea we should be civil has helped me see how very different niceness and civility are, and why people who value

A few words about Harlan Ellison

I shared this on Facebook and Twitter: What we should learn from our heroes: 1. Anyone can be great who refuses to conform. 2. Anyone who refuses to conform will be hated and loved. 3. Our flaws only make our accomplishments greater. RIP, Harlan Ellison. But I'll add a bit more here: Cory Doctorow has a nicely personal write-up that omits two things that should be included when weighing

Three reasons the left should learn from the civil rights movement and reclaim civility

Opponents of civility do not understand it. Civility is not niceness or etiquette or deference or loving your enemies. It is only the most formal form of politeness. It calls for treating others as your equals when you think they are not. It is loved by diplomats and hated by people who love war. Its purpose is not to prevent hard discussions—it’s to enable them. Historically, the left and

On comics panels within scenes—especially for 3d comics artists

Comic artists can learn a great deal by studying movie-making, but there are things that don't apply. In particular, a shot in a movie scene has different rules than a panel in a comics scene. The shot must convince us that we're still in the same scene, so some continuity is necessary—if nothing else, the lighting should stay consistent, and so should the color of the background. But in comics

On the Hidden Figures movie, and the inadequacy of the white savior/magical Negro distinction

Finally saw Hidden Figures, a movie I meant to see on opening day and just kept running into reasons to put off. The quick take: Great movie. If you care about space flight or civil rights, see it. The casting is perfect, the directing is solid, the script is quietly competent. But what I want to talk about is a moment that choked me up for a long minute after I asked Emma to pause the film,

The medical form asked if I was being insulted or mocked

I filled out a questionnaire at the doctor's today—I went because I seem to be losing my hearing in one ear—and quickly realized the form was meant to find out if people needed help and were hesitant to ask for it. One of the questions was about whether you get insulted or mocked. There wasn't an option for "Yes, I talk about politics on the internet", so I checked no.

Warpship Victoria page 10

Page 1 The teaser on this blog ends with this installment. The story will continue at Warpship Victoria.

Warpship Victoria pages 7 - 9

Page 1

Warpship Victoria pages 5 - 6

Page 1

Warpship Victoria pages 1 - 4

A little about Warpship Victoria Possibly of interest: Two black people on the Titanic in fact and a third in folklore