#That's jay for ya

[jayblanc]

Chinese Censorship of the 2023 Hugo Award Nominations

Back before the 2023 Hugo Nominations were conducted, I noted that the Chengdu Worldcon Hugo committee had inserted a worrying clause indicating that local government officials could invalidate nominations for breaching the norms and standards of China. I suspected this would result in arbitrarily applied censorship to control the ballot. I am sad and unsurprised to discover I was correct.

The 2023 Hugo Nomination vote data has been published (https://www.thehugoawards.org/2024/01/2023-nominating-and-final-ballot-statistics-published/), and includes notation where nominations were excluded from the ballot. Those with normal reasons, such as being in the wrong category or not being published in 2022 are identified with their reasons for exclusion. This time there are a number of nominations that are merely marked at "Not eligible".

Here is the list of those nominations, that would otherwise have been placed on the final 2023 Hugo Award Ballot.

Babel - R.F. Kuang - Best Novel: Very likely excluded for referencing student revolution, and the use of language and translation as coercive tools of oppression. Color the World - Congyun "Mu Ming" Hu - Best Novellette : A story about perception of, aid of, and discrimination against disability. Congyun Hu has left China and now lives in New York. Fogong Temple Padoga - Hai Ya - Best Story : Either there is something in the original Chinese that was not translated, there's a taboo subject that elides my reading, or this otherwise innocent looking near future tale of cultural building restoration was written by the wrong person. The Art of Ghost of Tsushima: Dark Horse and Sucker Punch Games - Best Related Work : The video game Ghost of Tsushima was subject to directed social exclusion for it's depiction of the Mongol invasion of Japan. Sandman, Amazon Studios: Best Dramatic Presentation (Long and Short) - A diverse and divergent cast, includes subject matter and social issues that are currently taboo in China. Paul Weimer - Fan Writer: Publicly Critical of holding a Worldcon in China. Xiran Jay Zhao - Astounding Award: Qualifying work "Iron Widow" is reimagined story of Chinese Empress Wu during a fantasy/mechanical alien invasion.

This raises a lot of questions as to if this basically taints the process, and what can be done about it.

[skywerse]

doodles from my big riptide doodle file I started a week ago

(part 1)

[shiftythrifting]

Giant spectral truck Jesus done with oil pastels, found in the Salvation Army store in Whitehall, PA.

[fossilpaw]

moon, sun, above earth

[detectiveforfree]

1⚡2⚡3⚡4⚡

[i-know-how-my-story-ends]

I know DC will never do anything with it, but Duke Thomas being the only Bat who works in daylight and also the only (core) Black Bat is Fascinating

[arklayraven]

I love them all, but Barbatos is making me feel things the strongest here. pfff

source

[thatsmybook]

"It's been a month since Young Royals officially ended and, if you're like me, you're still sobbing over that beautiful finale and missing Prince Wilhelm, Simon, and the entire squad from Hillerska (and Bjärstadt).

Don't worry, I've got some royally good YA book recs for your favourite characters from YOUNG ROYALS that you can add to your TBR to fill the space we're all missing after watching this fantastic series."

From YA author Julian Winters on IG @wintersjulian

[torteen]

“She belongs in the forest. She belongs as a Luminary. She belongs as a hunter.”

Meet Winnie Wednesday (AKA kickass monster hunter) in The Luminaries by New York Times bestselling author Susan Dennard—available now.

The Witcher meets Riverdale in The Luminaries by New York Times bestselling author Susan Dennard—a haunting and high-octane contemporary fantasy about a nightmare-filled forest, monster hunters, and the secrets hiding in the dark corners of your own family.

[general-cyno]

it's dressrosa time for more zolu rambles. there were some really good and funny bits like zoro being (unsurprisingly) on board with luffy's idea of fighting the emperors

luffy charging right after zoro when he gets his sword stolen bc it looks fun (though he ends up in the tournament instead)

zoro getting absolutely sidetracked from his very important mission of going back to the sunny to help the others bc he saw luffy participating in the tournament, then again when he saw luffy in person (he wanted to be invited too!)

luffy happily and without hesitation agreeing to zoro's crazy plan for the lift

cheers to luffy's casual, unwavering faith in zoro!

zoro just letting luffy do whatever he wants and manhandle him around with a simple "yeah sure where we going" compared to law who is decidedly Not Even Remotely Used to this kind of treatment

their gremlin braincell once again shining through as they both laugh at pica (much to law's continuous exasperation)

I also liked how confidently luffy decided and told zoro he'd continue ahead while zoro chose to stay behind and deal with pica, yet again demonstrating luffy's casual but firm trust that zoro can handle things and protect others in his stead, while he takes care of the biggest threats. zoro's own taunting and smug "our captain wants nothing to do with a pebble like you, so you have to make do with me" at pica was good too lol.

when zoro finally defeats pica and side characters, in awe of his strength, are baffled that someone so powerful is luffy's "henchman"? also peak.

two other things I enjoyed, albeit not necessarily involving zoro and luffy directly, were:

- zoro taking the lead, attempting to stop doflamingo's birdcage by force and doing so by asking for ppl's help (showcasing his willingness to guide as much as rely on others when it's needed) which drove folks to actively follow him in a similar fashion to how they tend to do with luffy. in a way, zoro's determination uplifted ppl's spirits + the whole thing helped keep civilians and others safe while luffy recuperated enough to finish off doflamingo. it's no wonder zoro was one of the few straw hats to stay behind in dressrosa, since that's the kind of feat someone like him (as luffy's first mate/second in command) can accomplish. really highlights zoro's role in the crew and why luffy's belief in zoro's reliability, of him being able to handle dire situations and protect ppl on his own without luffy having to worry abt/over him is a recurring and important part of their overall relationship. usopp desperately asking zoro to save him back during the pica ordeal and hugging him afterwards in relief as other characters thanked him too, was a funny and sweet way to acknowledge this as well.

- this interaction between luffy and rebecca:

can't say whether it was intentional or not, (probably not since these chapters are wildly apart from each other) but it made me think of luffy and zoro's first meeting, and how luffy ultimately decided to make zoro part of his crew after he asked to be fed the stomped riceballs and for luffy to tell rika they were delicious. these two are so very similar on a fundamental level, even if they still retain certain differences and distinct approaches depending on the situation, and it was nice to see another reminder of it. both luffy and zoro are, at their core, strong and kind characters (though in a curiously selfish manner) who don't hesitate to acknowledge and repay the kindness they're offered in turn. imo it's cool how these shared traits have allowed them to understand and stay alongside each other to this point.

edit: forgot to mention but sabo entrusting the crew with luffy's safety and giving them luffy's vivre card (handing it to zoro specifically) as zoro fondly remarks how he resembled ace back in alabasta was just. really really good as well. esp when you consider how much the crew loves luffy, and what zoro himself has done to protect him.

[avephelis]

wait a minute. me when i remember i can post traditional stuff.

[spaceratprodigy]

Ooh palettes 🥰 Jasper and Faith in either Malabar squirrel or cherry pie?

@darkfire1177 — [ palette prompts ]

✨ The Unplanned Variables ✨

[spidey-bie]

Librarian Hobie anyone?

He works in the children's section

Librarian Hobie who holds summer reading programs every summer to motivate kids to read

Librarian Hobie who holds a book club every month to get kids more engaged with reading.

(If there's a movie adaptation he'll put it on for everyone to watch at the end of the month with free snacks and popcorn.)

Librarian Hobie who comes up with different events each month that the kids always love

Librarian Hobie who has the entire children's section memorized so he'll know where to look whenever a patron needs something

Librarian Hobie who currently speaks 4 different languages to help patrons out who don't speak English

Librarian Hobie who holds reading contests where kids get to vote on his next piercing with each book they read

Librarian Hobie who doesn't care what the board says about "county lines" if you want a library card you're getting a library card

Librarian Hobie who just ignores book fines whenever people turn books in late

Librarian Hobie who's trying to get the sly but pretty librarian with orange locs who works in the adult department to go get a drink with him

Librarian Hobie who makes sure they read The Princess Bride once every year for book club so he can invite the adult department librarian to watch the movie at the end of the month.

Honestly if your librarian isn't punk why are they even there? I promise it's literally part of the job. —Sincerely a librarian page

I need to write more of this later because I still have more thoughts.

[peachybruiseslego]

this was supposed to be a doodle w a mouse i dont save and just delete but whys he look so skrimblo

[fishybehavior]

Struck by a great idea

[jacuzziwaters]

It's so funny to me that Atsumu and Osamu are part of the few who canonically dye their hair and it's a naturally occurring colors. And then we got Tendou, Yamaguchi, Sugawara, and Hinata with insane hair colors and that's their real undyed hair.