Of the Evil Of Puppies

Apparently the Sad Puppies campaigns have unleashed such unspeakable evil that – if one were to ask some of the louder voices in the anti-Puppy Dens of Iquity (they’re convinced of their virtue over there, so these can’t possibly be Dens of Iniquity. Besides, we’ve got the best Dens of Iniquity, complete with really dark Dark Side cookies made by Cedar) – the only way a neutral author can remove the “taint” of being associated with our horrible selves is to denounce us.

Hm. The irony is strong with these ones.

Do they not see that this kind of behavior is precisely the behavior Nazis expected of good Germans? If tainted by association with the undesirable, one must denounce said undesirables, vow to refuse all further contact, and – preferably – turn the undesirables over to the proper authority (and hope not to be punished as a result). The exact same dynamic thrived in the USSR and its satellites, and still thrives in the remaining Communist nations (except you won’t see much about it in the media because that’s apparently not newsworthy).

And yet, when I pointed out that our dear anti-Puppy friends were behaving like the Nazis did, complete with examples and quotes, I was horrible, just absolutely horrible.

Well, no. I’m not horrible. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m secretly actually kind of… nice. It’s a shameful thing for a charter member of the Evil Legion of Evil to have to admit, but there it is. I mean, I may be Kate the Impaler, but I insist on only impaling people who deserve it. We can argue over what constitutes deserving some other time – but I will say just disagreeing with me isn’t sufficient. I’m not even going to demand an apology for disagreeing with me, nor will I expect anyone to denounce the anti-Puppy camps if they should chance to be liked – or even Hugo-nominated – by anti-Puppy folks.

Something that could cause harm to someone’s livelihood (like accusing someone of being a Neo-Nazi as opposed to behaving like a Nazi – yes, folks, there is a difference. The first one requires actual membership of a Neo-Nazi group, and that accusation is actionable libel. Observing that someone is acting like Nazis is not libelous: it is a warning to pull your bloody head in before you go somewhere that will bring some very ugly reprisals and not from me), done with obvious malice aforethought like the point-and-shriek ritual denunciations of those perceived to be insufficiently anti-Puppy… Let’s just say it’s a good thing I try to be a civilized person.

See, the point-and-shriek crowd always unloads with everything they have. I’ve yet to see any evidence these people have any idea how to handle someone who doesn’t cave to their toddler-esque tantrums (and frankly, most of the toddlers I’ve known behaved a whole lot better – toddlers generally just scream and kick. They don’t look for ways to shit on things they don’t like – and the Hugo Assterisks were so obviously and emphatically a case of supposedly mature adults crapping all over those they despised it was painful to watch). Most of the folk on the Sad Puppy side of the divide are holding back, trying to stay more or less civil, and quietly wondering if there’s any thought happening in the anti-Puppy camps. Because it certainly doesn’t look that way.

Of course, that could be because thought – like it’s more rigorous cousin logic – is a tool of the evil patriarchy or something so it’s quite possible a ritual lobotomy to excise the rational parts of the human brain is a requirement to join over there. Here? We won’t turn away the voluntarily lobotomized as long as they’re prepared to try to behave like adults. Constant name-calling and fecal-flinging will get someone banned, but mostly the trollish types leave on their own.

Just as well, too – on this side of the Puppy divide most of us work to live, whether by writing or by the dreaded day job (I have one of these. Between that and being narcoleptic finding time and focus to do anything else is a challenge).

So. My challenge to the anti-Puppy folks is this: demonstrate that you’re capable of behaving like a mature, responsible adult. That means if you link to this post you discuss it rationally, without flinging insults around (descriptions of bad behavior are acceptable, but they do need to be backed up with evidence). Prove that you don’t really want anyone who’s favored by the Sad Puppy campaigns to denounce all things Puppy.

I won’t hold my breath. Smurf just isn’t my color.