Skin Horse

By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
Color by Pancha Diaz
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2015-08-27
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2015-08-27

by shaenon on August 27, 2015 at 12:01 am
Chapter: Looking Glass Land
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Discussion (60) ¬

  1. Frank
    August 27, 2015, 12:32 am | # | Reply

    Oh because,y ou know, this is just another universe. I’m sure finding someone who claims that will be considered perfectly sane

  2. Alphaghoul
    August 27, 2015, 12:40 am | # | Reply

    Wow, that’s f€£¥ed up, I was tempted to not censor my swearing.

  3. dexitroboper
    August 27, 2015, 12:43 am | # | Reply

    As long as the Rabid Puppies were first against the wall it can’t have been too bad.

    • Jon
      August 27, 2015, 1:00 am | # | Reply

      Don’t forget the Gamergate people.

    • Voyager
      August 27, 2015, 3:11 am | # | Reply

      You realize the whole war on the puppies was Torr trying to keep the Hugo’s bought, right?

      • shaenon
        August 27, 2015, 4:57 am | # | Reply

        That sounds like a serious problem that you should combat by voting for all my work for the Hugos.

        • Zyzzyva
          August 27, 2015, 5:31 am | # | Reply

          Yeah, Shaenon’s a regular on We Hunted The Mammoth. This line of argumentation will go well for you.

          • Shaenon
            August 27, 2015, 2:26 pm | #

            Hey, whatever it takes to get his vote. I do find it unlikely that any publisher has been paying off each and every one of the several thousand Hugo voters to get, in a typical year, maybe one award, and I’m inclined to take with a grain of salt anything the Puppies say about the publisher they’re mad at for paying $3 million to this one writer they hate for being a feminist dude.

            But I haven’t had anything published by Tor, or even by Torr, so it’s safe to vote for me.

          • Voyager
            August 27, 2015, 9:53 pm | #

            As I recall when the whole thing started out, the Hugos were only seeing a hundred or so votes.

            I mostly found the whole thing amusing because the anti-puppy crew were directly accusing the author of “A Few Good Men” of being a sexist homophobe. You might be able to make the case against the author of “Ethan of Athos,” maybe, but a “Few Good Men”?

          • shaenon
            August 27, 2015, 10:05 pm | #

            Voyager, you recall incorrectly: http://www.thehugoawards.org/content/pdf/2013HugoStatistics.pdf

            I do have your vote for next year’s Hugos, right? I’ve got some stories I’m working on.

          • Voyager
            August 28, 2015, 8:28 am | #

            It just struck me, comics authors are campaigning for our votes all the time. Why the different standard for books?

          • matt w
            August 28, 2015, 8:58 am | #

            Does anyone else mentally complete “by Tor” with “and the snow dog”?

          • Voyager
            August 28, 2015, 9:24 am | #

            As I recall, wasn’t 2013 Sad Puppies 1?

            At the end of the day, the only reason I’m even aware of the whole fracas was because I actually know a bunch of the authors involved.

          • Voyager
            August 28, 2015, 10:23 pm | #

            What is also interesting is if you take a look at the 2011 number, Girl Genius got as many votes (400) as some of the categories from the previous year had total votes, while in 2010, there was only a total of around 225 at the first ballot, while the winners of best novels that year both started with 240 votes at the first ballot.

            There were nearly twice as many No Award votes in this year’s Hugos as there were total ballots cast in many of the years prior.

            Just going through the Sad Puppies, Sad Puppies 3 had around 5.5k votes cast in it, SP2 was 3.5k, SP1 was 1.8k, and the last pre-puppy year was 1.9k, but that was the first year after GG left the ballot, and the number of voters for the best graphic novel category started dropping immediately afterwards.

            It will be curious to see the statistics for next year.

        • Robert Nowall
          August 27, 2015, 9:25 am | # | Reply

          I’d do it, but it’d cost me money. Also for Aaron Neathery’s “Endtown,” if I can do more than one.

      • Cubist
        August 27, 2015, 7:40 am | # | Reply

        Yeah… that shadowy cabal of Tor SJW operatives who have spent that last however-many decades brutally suppressing all Pup-friendly SF, and concealing all evidence of their manifold perfidies, somehow managed to allow more than 60 of this year’s 85 Hugo nominations to go to Pup-friendly SF.

        So logic. Much coherent. Very sense.

      • jy3
        August 27, 2015, 4:39 pm | # | Reply

        Torr? Aren’t they the onion-routing people?

        But seriously. My reaction to the whole “puppies” thing was something like:
        “Like hell I’m going to listen to someone who thinks Star Trek was apolitical talk about how the fake geeks are taking over SF to push an agenda and the solution is to push a Hugo slate chosen based on the leanings of its authors.”

    • darkstarling
      August 27, 2015, 6:43 am | # | Reply

      “The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy defines the Marketing Division of Sirius Cybernetics as ‘a bunch of mindless jerks who will be first against the wall when the revolution comes.’ Curiously enough, a copy of the Encyclopedia Galactica which fell through a time portal describes them as ‘a bunch of mindless jerks who were first against the wall when the revolution came’.”

      • darkstarling
        August 27, 2015, 6:53 am | # | Reply

        In honor of this quote, I hereby dub the Men’s Rights movement the Sirius Cybernetics Marketing Division. May they live up to the name.

        • Prodigal
          August 27, 2015, 12:10 pm | # | Reply

          Hey now, you shouldn’t be that mean to the Sirius Cybernetics Marketing Division.

          • darkstarling
            August 27, 2015, 3:44 pm | #

            These are the guys who have “Go Stick Your Head In A Pig” in half mile letters above their headquarters. Illuminated on occasions of special celebration. Seems appropriate to me…

    • Robert Nowall
      August 27, 2015, 7:25 am | # | Reply

      The non-nominated losers can just console themselves with George Railroad Martin’s trophies.

      • John Schilling
        August 27, 2015, 11:19 am | # | Reply

        Wait, I thought they revoked all of Martin’s awards after the rape of Sansa Stark.

        • Robert Nowall
          August 27, 2015, 11:33 am | # | Reply

          Nah. He created and handed out the “Alfies”—named after Alfred Bester, it’s reported. Gave ’em out at the Hugo Losers party to who “should have” won—none of whom were nominated.

          • Bergerjacques
            August 27, 2015, 12:35 pm | #

            So from all this I gather that “Hugo award winning….” does not carry the same cachet as it used too. As a consumer, that’s good to know.

          • matt w
            August 28, 2015, 9:08 am | #

            On the off-chance you haven’t been following the Hugo controversy–nah, not really. This year’s awards got messed up but the main effect was that no award was given in several categories.

        • LdyErzsie
          August 27, 2015, 12:36 pm | # | Reply

          You DO realize that Martin had nothing to do with Sansa’s wedding night rape, right? That’s all the show. In the books she’s still not done ANYTHING.

  4. Paul (eaten by fungi)
    August 27, 2015, 12:43 am | # | Reply

    The rare Reverse Screwfly Scenario.

    • darkstarling
      August 27, 2015, 6:46 am | # | Reply

      It’s rare because, given income inequality and the glass ceiling, when the war comes the men start with more resources :p
      Guess whatever mad scientist was behind this decided to go for the numerical advantage instead.

      • darkstarling
        August 27, 2015, 6:48 am | # | Reply

        That, or they were just counting on the Narbons…

    • matt w
      August 27, 2015, 7:08 am | # | Reply

      Some folks may not have read The Female Man by Joanna Russ. Read The Female Man by Joanna Russ, everybody!

      • Robert Nowall
        August 27, 2015, 9:35 am | # | Reply

        I read her “We Who Are About To.” Not a chance I’d read anything else by her except by accident.

        • maarvarq
          August 27, 2015, 10:10 am | # | Reply

          I think I read When It Changed and wasn’t inclined to read any more of her stuff either. On the subject of attempted subversions of gender stereotypes, if you haven’t read “Ancillary Justice”, don’t. It’s one of the most boring 400 pages I’ve read in a long time, and the whole bit about referring to everyone as “she” in the language with too many “a”s just strips off a layer of texture from bland characters who can’t afford to lose it.

          • Michael
            August 27, 2015, 3:38 pm | #

            Ancillary Justice was one of the best books I read last year. Ancillary Sword wasn’t bad, either.

        • Andrew Plotkin
          August 27, 2015, 11:59 am | # | Reply

          I also have an opinion about Ancillary Justice! http://eblong.com/zarf/bookscan/review/leckie_ann_ancillary_justice.html

          (Not posting to get into an argument, only to demonstrate that some of us really liked it. Not just because of “the pronoun thing” either.)

          • maarvarq
            August 28, 2015, 1:38 am | #

            I am not surprised that others liked it, given that it won “all the awards”. I was surprised at first to then find it as dull as I did – the novel was set against the backdrop of a galaxy-spanning 10,000 year old civilisation, and all I got to see of it for the first half of the book was through two pinholes into unengaging scenarios. By the time anything started to happen the author had lost to opportunity to get me to care… and oh my lack of God, the endless blather about tea.

      • BMunro
        August 27, 2015, 1:09 pm | # | Reply

        There was an all-female society in that one, but I think the background was “alien planet, local factors lead to die-off of men”. There’s also a _literal_ war of the sexes reality, IIRC, but I think that one had been going on for a while. No reverse screwflies.

        This scenario only really works as humor: the female numerical advantage is small, and men not only have the money, but most of the guns, too. Unless the insanity comes in the very specific form of “become a clever, sneaky assassin.” 🙂

        Of course, we don’t really know if this is a reliable witness in the first place…

        • darkstarling
          August 27, 2015, 3:49 pm | # | Reply

          I was going to suggest the ‘slow burn insanity’ type, wait for your opportunity to kill someone. That works much better. That and if you’re dedicated and homicidal you can steal the guns before you strike.

          Which makes me wonder, do we know that the insanity REALLY was temporary?

        • matt w
          August 28, 2015, 9:18 am | # | Reply

          BMunro, if you’re talking about the Female Man,

          SPOILERS INCOMING

          the background to Whileaway was totally that the war of the sexes ended with the women killing off the men. This was the big revelation that Alice gives to the other women toward the end of the book.

          END SPOILERS

          I also think it’s kind of ridiculous to be talking about how impractical for women to win a literal war of the sexes when the whole idea of a literal war of the sexes is utterly impractical in the first place.

          Anyway, I haven’t read “We Who Are About To…” or “When It Changed,” but Russ’s “The Little Dirty Girl” is the best ghost story ever (and doesn’t involve the death of all men).

          • matt w
            August 28, 2015, 9:20 am | #

            A bit of poking around (all right, Wikipedia) suggests that the background of Whileaway in “When It Changed” may be different than in “The Female Man.” Though it may also just be that Janet has the same false beliefs in “When It Changed” and they haven’t been corrected (though it sounds like the timelines aren’t compatible).

    • Dunhere
      August 31, 2015, 9:20 pm | # | Reply

      Screwfly is exactly where I went on first impression too.

  5. Barking Monkey
    August 27, 2015, 6:45 am | # | Reply

    I like to think I’m an advocate for my gender, but I’ll confess I didn’t think the appearance of monster-filled wastelands would be one of the negative effects of the sudden disappearance of men.
    Has it got something to do with leaving the toilet seat up?

    • darkstarling
      August 27, 2015, 7:07 am | # | Reply

      Actually it’s to do with washing your hands afterwards.

      • Barking Monkey
        August 27, 2015, 5:10 pm | # | Reply

        Surprisingly enough, I’m told that’s one area we are at least on par, if not ahead, of the ladies. The men’s room at my workplace looks like a Heironymus Bosch painting but everyone is scrupulous about washing up afterward. My female coworker indicates it’s not so on the other side.

    • jerryc
      August 27, 2015, 9:11 am | # | Reply

      Hey, we men won’t go down without a fight, you know. You’ll pry the remote control out of our cold, dead hands.

    • Smurfton
      August 27, 2015, 1:54 pm | # | Reply

      More seriously, losing half the population would make maintenance of everything difficult. And I don’t think that we are good enough at cloning yet to make the population go up.

      • darkstarling
        August 27, 2015, 6:17 pm | # | Reply

        Did Mad Science survive? Because if so the solutions to the lack of men will be…interesting.

        Distributing sex change pills? Women growing from spores? Magic genetically recombining baby engine? All we know is that whatever is involved, it WON’T be ‘bring men back’.

        • darkstarling
          August 27, 2015, 6:20 pm | # | Reply

          (that’ll be the job for the mad scientists of 200 years from now. “And now to resurrect the mythical beast!”)

    • WJS
      July 26, 2019, 10:04 pm | # | Reply

      Well, their world already is filled with monsters. Men disappearing in real life would probably lead to the remains of civilisation being overrun with wild animals instead.

  6. jerryc
    August 27, 2015, 7:10 am | # | Reply

    Wouldn’t take that much, you know. Eventually the laws of chance say all the women in the world will happen to synchronize their monthly periods. Then some idiot guy will tell his girlfriend women are only using that as an excuse not to fix sandwiches for their men. The riot will sweep the world.

    • Robert Nowall
      August 27, 2015, 9:33 am | # | Reply

      You know what they say about women who hang out together, in college dorms, say—they all start having their monthlies at the same time of the month. Is that true or is it just some urban legend?

      • Kirala
        August 27, 2015, 10:57 am | # | Reply

        I’m inclined to say “yes” – it’s true AND an urban legend. In my experience it’s like car turn signals in a turn lane: there will be periods where they seem eerily in sync, and then they diverge again. Probably because too many women have bodies stubbornly determined to have cycles longer/shorter than ‘average’. (Though they do sync up a bit more than turn signals, so there’s probably SOMETHING to the pheremone thing.)

      • LdyErzsie
        August 27, 2015, 12:32 pm | # | Reply

        It is true. It’s also true in families. All the women cycle off the dominant–usually the mother–female.

  7. Robert Nowall
    August 27, 2015, 7:23 am | # | Reply

    How is that different from everybody else’s universe?

  8. Frith ra
    August 27, 2015, 8:55 am | # | Reply

    Considering the fact that I have three women in the house. I would do well to even wake up that first morning. Especially since two of them are teenagers.

    • Frank
      August 27, 2015, 10:04 am | # | Reply

      Eh, I’ll survive then. I cook for the women in my house

  9. Pygar
    August 27, 2015, 4:51 pm | # | Reply

    Tip, pretty much the Last *Man* on Earth… heading into a “Boy and His Dog” scenario… Now, how to make it objectionable to him…

    • Shadowmehr
      August 27, 2015, 7:55 pm | # | Reply

      Most men killed off by violence. Tip, dead by exhaustion.

  10. darkstarling
    August 27, 2015, 6:51 pm | # | Reply

    So…am I completely late to the boat on this one or did we really miss that Planet Lovetron is actually based on something?

  11. Splat, the nightmare cat
    May 11, 2018, 1:21 pm | # | Reply

    Oh I see what this is. This is one of those doctor who stories where the doctor and their companion each end up on the opposite side of a war.

    NNIIIIIICE!!!!!

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