Emily Short has been retweeting several people’s firsthand accounts on this.
I am glad that these numerous accounts of sexual harassment are taken seriously. It is a good thing that some women, though probably not all unfortunately, now feel safe enough to report his behavior (I am not saying that any victim of harassment should report, but rather that those who want to report now feel that they can do it).
I am saying all this because I recently bought Sunless Sea (which I think he said was 1/3 written by him) and Cultist Simulator (which was almost entirely written by him, the exceptions being the multiples romance endings) and was enjoying them both. Not only that, but I was listening to multiple podcasts, streams and interviews with him and I was interest in his insight as recently as yesterday. I know that you can enjoy the good bit and separate it from the bad bit, that the author is dead anyway, and it would not be the first time I read a text and enjoy art from an author that is a "doofus" (to avoid stronger words), but if writing is supposed to reflect in some way the ideas of the writer, then are there subtle ways in which harmful idea are being communicated through his work? If so, I would hate to say to those that are harmed by the writing "yeah, but I liked those bits, so it doesn’t matter what you say." That would be really awful, and hurtful. I know that this isn’t what these women are talking about, but I have been told that these small things can be toxic.
Anyway, this whole post is very, very egoistic and I have no idea what am talking about. The important thing (I guess) is that I support those who have been hurt by Alexis Kennedy.
P.S.: As usual, you can correct my grammar if you want to. English is not my first language and I am happy to learn more.
I agree with a lot of this, but to state that because Alexis authored a lot of the things in the FL universe, means we should be suspicious of all his works, some, like H.P. Lovecraft, can be glaringly obvious in hindsight. But we shouldn’t assume that, despite Alexis’ undeniably high quality artistic writing, that he fits this definition of what writing is supposed to be, with his works relating to women being quite progressive despite what we now know his attitudes are. If we do see any of his works supporting his idea of what ‘‘romance’’ should be in the real world, then by all means try remove that influence. But we shouldn’t get rid of the works that don’t, just because they now have an air of suspicion. We should look carefully at parts that could be interpreted as being supportive of those behaviors when we see them, and make a verdict about what it really means, or decide if a somewhat more ambiguous case leans too far towards this bent of his. As I stated about deodands. (A rather useful word to know, when many people are discomforted by things when they are casually related to a negative event.)
edited by Lord Alexander Alderman on 8/29/2019
Suspicion is rising…
(too soon?)
edited by Lord Alexander Alderman on 8/29/2019
FWIW, Caoláin (aka Spacemarine9) has written a few words, too:
https://twitter.com/murinemach/status/1166875180184080384
This article also mentioned
(The article has been edited now and I can’t find that part anymore, so take it with a grain of salt.)
edited by rahv7 on 8/30/2019
I see the original result in "the lead" in a different light now.
May a reckoning not be postponed indefinitely.
Thank you for posting this here for us who don’t use Twitter. It was a heartbreaking read.
When I first learned of this, I audibly whispered "Oh no."
Look at what you’ve done, Alexis. You’ve perturbed this innocent puppy! Your reckoning will most certainly not be postponed indefinitely.
I don’t use Twitter and am very much out of the loop even regarding the Failbetter forums so reading this after logging in shocked me greatly.
I’ve been considering buying Cultist Simulator, now I can safely say I won’t be touching that product or any future works by AK.
The talk page for AK’s wikipedia entry now includes references to this thread and the FB twitter statement.
Because of the threats he made, and because those who have been abused and traumatised don’t owe it to you to reveal that abuse and trauma at a time that suits your schedule.
Because abusers are often good at hiding their bad behaviour and being charming, while those that did know the truth remained publicly silent out of respect for the wishes of the victims.
Many other are out of the loop, so I’ll reference the Reddit discussion here for more information, debates, questions and opinions.
The fact that you derisively refer to it as the ‘outrage machine’ suggests you’re not calibrated well on this topic.
[quote=Drake Dynamo]I know this will be quite the unpopular opinion…[/quote]… and absolutely nobody is surprised about it being you voicing that opinion. xD
[quote=Drake Dynamo]Regardless, I think it best if we wait to hear all sides of the story before rendering judgement- a process of judgement which has worked, I might add, since the days of the Ancient Greeks. This whole situation reminds me of the debacle with ProJared- someone who was accused of a lot of scummy, & some illegal, behaviors, and was promptly crucified by the internet at large. Then, after a number of months passed, ProJared returned with evidence to refute the claims made against him, and a number of people had to apologize for rushing to judge him (I will admit, I was one of those people who judged him, and I have learned from the experience).
I understand these are tense and emotional times, but I think we’d all benefit from some forbearance, and consideration of all parties.[/quote]
Don’t be that guy.
He is that guy. Can’t help it. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
This is not a court of law; there is no requirement that all evidence be presented, or that anyone’s judgment be heard, and other cases don’t come into it. Now be respectful.
So, I’m still on the Weather Factory mailing list… and about two hours ago I received an email about a new blog post… with the remark "This post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading."
And so, um… I’m not quite sure what they’re trying to tell us here?
FWIW, here’s a screenshot of the email I received.
Something is wrong here.
edited by phryne on 9/9/2019