Hermit

https://nebulas.sfwa.org/2019-nebula-award-finalists-announced/
 
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA, Inc.) is pleased to announce the finalists for the 55th Annual Nebula Awards, including the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, and the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book. The awards will be presented in Woodland Hills, CA at the Warner Center Marriott during a ceremony on the evening of May 30th.
 
2019 Nebula Award Finalists
Novel
Marque of Caine, Charles E. Gannon (Baen)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Orbit UK)
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (Tor)
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey; Jo Fletcher)
Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com Publishing)
A Song for a New Day, Sarah Pinsker (Berkley)
Novella
“Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”, Ted Chiang (Exhalation)
The Haunting of Tram Car 015, P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)
This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (Saga; Jo Fletcher)
Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water, Vylar Kaftan (Tor.com Publishing)
The Deep, Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes (Saga)
Catfish Lullaby, A.C. Wise (Broken Eye)
Novelette
“A Strange Uncertain Light”, G.V. Anderson (F&SF 7-8/19)
“For He Can Creep”, Siobhan Carroll (Tor.com 7/10/19)
“His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light”, Mimi Mondal (Tor.com 1/23/19)
“The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 7-8/19)
Carpe Glitter, Cat Rambo (Meerkat)
“The Archronology of Love”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed 4/19)
Short Story
“Give the Family My Love”, A.T. Greenblatt (Clarkesworld 2/19)
“The Dead, In Their Uncontrollable Power”, Karen Osborne (Uncanny 3-4/19)
“And Now His Lordship Is Laughing”, Shiv Ramdas (Strange Horizons 9/9/19)
“Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island”, Nibedita Sen (Nightmare 5/19)
“A Catalog of Storms”, Fran Wilde (Uncanny 1-2/19)
“How the Trick Is Done”, A.C. Wise (Uncanny 7-8/19)
The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, Carlos Hernandez (Disney Hyperion)
Catfishing on CatNet, Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee (Disney Hyperion)
Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions, Henry Lien (Holt)
Cog, Greg van Eekhout (Harper)
Riverland, Fran Wilde (Amulet)
Game Writing
Outer Wilds, Kelsey Beachum (Mobius Digital)
The Outer Worlds, Leonard Boyarsky, Megan Starks, Kate Dollarhyde, Chris L’Etoile (Obsidian Entertainment)
The Magician’s Workshop, Kate Heartfield (Choice of Games)
Disco Elysium, Robert Kurvitz (ZA/UM)
Fate Accessibility Toolkit, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry (Evil Hat Productions)
The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Avengers: Endgame, Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Marvel Studios)
Captain Marvel, Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck & Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Marvel Studios)
Good Omens: “Hard Times”, Neil Gaiman (Amazon Studios/BBC Studios)
The Mandalorian: “The Child”, Jon Favreau (Disney+)
Russian Doll: “The Way Out”, Allison Silverman and Leslye Headland (Netflix)
Watchmen: “A God Walks into Abar”, Jeff Jensen & Damon Lindelof (HBO)
 
The Nebula Awards will be presented during the annual SFWA Nebula Conference, which will run from May 28th-31st, 2020 at the Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills and features programming developed and geared toward SFF professionals. The Awards Ceremony will be held on the evening of May 30th.

So, that's what the Space Force is for. "I'm sorry, Mr President, but we didn't find anything on Neptune. Should we check Uranus?"

I put forward Too sexy by Right Said Fred.
 
"I'm too sexy for this song"  abrupt end.
 
🙂

Blood makes the grass roots grow! KILL KILL KILL!
 
 

Fact-Checking the Las Vegas Democratic Debate
 
I know this page is on the New York Times website, but the byline says, "Provided by The Canadian Press." If that matters to anyone.

Gods, Religions, and Religious institutions as unimportant and lacking any power or purpose save as healing shops.
It's such a waste of material to use it that way. And it often throws me off. Even if the gods don't feel chatty, religious leaders can still exert enough influence and power to hobble or raise up rulers, they can direct codes as strong as any secular set of laws. And, unless one is speaking of 'chaching, the God of #$#You, Payme!', their entire purpose should never be confined to just taking gold and then curing that STD you got at Madame Stonegate's House of Dwarven pleasures.
 
Not meaning any disrespect to anyone who follows Chaching
 
And I always appreciate when the not priestly types still have a spiritual side, and pay a bit of respect to the gods. NPCs who are farmers, bartenders, or the like who tip their hat to the local holy man, or pray for good weather etc are small touches, but it shows off nicely. Heck, even creative ways of using a god's name in anger can reflect wel. But when a fantasy village seems to be entirely secular to a man, unless there's an in setting reason, it kind of jars me a bit. I don't expect Hozanas and Psalms all the time, but the idea of "Who do these god people think they are anyway?" Should not be the norm unless you're going for a Monty python skit
 
 
But that's just me.. just sort of makes me roll my eyes and disrupts my immersion a bit.
 
 

Found the full debate for those like me who missed it the first time
 
 

When I feel sorry for Bloomberg, start selling some heaters in hell. 
 
Best comment I've seen on online of Bloomberg lately: "He is Trump plus a hatred of soda."

I mentioned this in the Share Your Magic System thread, but I've been plugging away at a document for Myth Adventures in Fantasy Hero.  I actually ran a game of this, long ago.  I'd love to have suggestions, ideas, feedback, and so forth.  
 
Is there anything you'd like to see in it?  More of something?  Less of something?  Suggestions for how to do (thing)?  

Gods, Religions, and Religious institutions as unimportant and lacking any power or purpose save as healing shops.
It's such a waste of material to use it that way. And it often throws me off. Even if the gods don't feel chatty, religious leaders can still exert enough influence and power to hobble or raise up rulers, they can direct codes as strong as any secular set of laws. And, unless one is speaking of 'chaching, the God of #$#You, Payme!', their entire purpose should never be confined to just taking gold and then curing that STD you got at Madame Stonegate's House of Dwarven pleasures.
 
Not meaning any disrespect to anyone who follows Chaching
 
And I always appreciate when the not priestly types still have a spiritual side, and pay a bit of respect to the gods. NPCs who are farmers, bartenders, or the like who tip their hat to the local holy man, or pray for good weather etc are small touches, but it shows off nicely. Heck, even creative ways of using a god's name in anger can reflect wel. But when a fantasy village seems to be entirely secular to a man, unless there's an in setting reason, it kind of jars me a bit. I don't expect Hozanas and Psalms all the time, but the idea of "Who do these god people think they are anyway?" Should not be the norm unless you're going for a Monty python skit
 
 
But that's just me.. just sort of makes me roll my eyes and disrupts my immersion a bit.
 
 

Gods, Religions, and Religious institutions as unimportant and lacking any power or purpose save as healing shops.
It's such a waste of material to use it that way. And it often throws me off. Even if the gods don't feel chatty, religious leaders can still exert enough influence and power to hobble or raise up rulers, they can direct codes as strong as any secular set of laws. And, unless one is speaking of 'chaching, the God of #$#You, Payme!', their entire purpose should never be confined to just taking gold and then curing that STD you got at Madame Stonegate's House of Dwarven pleasures.
 
Not meaning any disrespect to anyone who follows Chaching
 
And I always appreciate when the not priestly types still have a spiritual side, and pay a bit of respect to the gods. NPCs who are farmers, bartenders, or the like who tip their hat to the local holy man, or pray for good weather etc are small touches, but it shows off nicely. Heck, even creative ways of using a god's name in anger can reflect wel. But when a fantasy village seems to be entirely secular to a man, unless there's an in setting reason, it kind of jars me a bit. I don't expect Hozanas and Psalms all the time, but the idea of "Who do these god people think they are anyway?" Should not be the norm unless you're going for a Monty python skit
 
 
But that's just me.. just sort of makes me roll my eyes and disrupts my immersion a bit.
 
 

I loved The Knight's Tale, partly for its anachronisms.  I created a variant Car Wars setting once that was basically this, except with cars, guns, and magic.  Cars and weapons could be repaired, reloaded, and refueled by medieval blacksmiths with hammers and anvils and other medieval tools.  It would have been glorious (at least, to me).  

Gods, Religions, and Religious institutions as unimportant and lacking any power or purpose save as healing shops.
It's such a waste of material to use it that way. And it often throws me off. Even if the gods don't feel chatty, religious leaders can still exert enough influence and power to hobble or raise up rulers, they can direct codes as strong as any secular set of laws. And, unless one is speaking of 'chaching, the God of #$#You, Payme!', their entire purpose should never be confined to just taking gold and then curing that STD you got at Madame Stonegate's House of Dwarven pleasures.
 
Not meaning any disrespect to anyone who follows Chaching
 
And I always appreciate when the not priestly types still have a spiritual side, and pay a bit of respect to the gods. NPCs who are farmers, bartenders, or the like who tip their hat to the local holy man, or pray for good weather etc are small touches, but it shows off nicely. Heck, even creative ways of using a god's name in anger can reflect wel. But when a fantasy village seems to be entirely secular to a man, unless there's an in setting reason, it kind of jars me a bit. I don't expect Hozanas and Psalms all the time, but the idea of "Who do these god people think they are anyway?" Should not be the norm unless you're going for a Monty python skit
 
 
But that's just me.. just sort of makes me roll my eyes and disrupts my immersion a bit.
 
 

This is more a complaint for fantasy artwork, and video games, but: Giant weapons for human-sized fighters. Seven-foot swords. Hundred-pound hammers. Axes as broad as a car door. All of the insecurity-overcompensating, penis-substituting, power-fantasizing behemoth bodkins that even Conan couldn't swing in a fight.

Nurse Kellye was great.  Season by season we got to see her and she could be a voice of sanity in a room of self avowed lunatics and nuts in denial. And a voice for diversity long before her time "Doctor, could you put that in ethnic measurements I can understand?"
 
and damn it, she was indeed cute as a button!
 
 

Okay doke, I think I can finish up now with my big elaborate scheme, (but I can't type). My final option is the Ferengi, as a side contact, the ultimate fences if ever there were a race so inclined. 
 

 
And the title of my play:  Three Card Jedi  🤑

Option: The Gateway from "The City On the Edge of Forever"
 

Speaking of which, the end of the video for Brad Paisley's "Celebrity" is pretty amazing (compliments of William Shatner).
 
 

Stupid Muse hitting at 3 am. Why couldn't I make my picks at civilized hours, on the days I was supposed to?
 
Adversary 1: Professor Hugo Strange
Adversary 2: Ultron
Option: Dinosaurs
Option: A young boy named Timmy

He dreamed of Atlantis again, not one Atlantis, but all of them. He wished he could get back on his drugs. He didn't know why he kept being told to Dream of Atlantis, but that's all that was asked of him. Asked? hell, he was being made to dream. And if it was any comfort that his obedience was causing frustration to his captor, that comfort was lost in sensations of confusion, and helplessness.
 
He wished he could get back on his drugs again.
 
Option: George Orr, from Ursula K. Guin's Lathe of Heaven

Adversary number one, Harcourt Fenton Mudd, con man and smuggler  entrepreneur. 
 

 
 

Adversary 2: Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter)         Support: Carl Spackler, the Groundskeeper (Caddyshack)  

Adversary #2:  Glory (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
 
The title changes to:  Ash v. Cthulhu v Glory 
 

 
 

A Knight's Tale
A peasant squire who pretends to be a knight and enters jousting tournaments with his merry band of misfits along for the ride.  Fun, underrated story of medieval historical fantasy interspersed with modern rock/pop songs.

If I could give a shout out to a more recent character who was compelling and strong...and female? 
 Mako Mori from Pacific Rim.  She had a back story of her own separate from the male protagonist, she had her own hopes and ambitions, she was polite but firm. She loved her adoptive dad, and was as dedicated to the mission as any other in the program- a true professional without being a jerk to people. She was interesting in and of herself, and yet, and I can't stress this enough, the writers didn't have her throw other characters in a pit just so she could stand taller. Even her reasons for  sparring with Raleigh was clear, professional, and damn he did ask her opinion.  She wasn't perfect, she had flaws, but she overcame them with determination.
 
Props to Raleigh too by the way. He didn't want her as co pilot because she was cute, he wanted her there because she was the right person for the job and it was a waste to have her benched!  This was a male character who could have been written as profoundly insecure about having a woman who was his equal (or better in some areas), instead he was impressed and supported her own desire to be a pilot because he saw she had every right to it and they need good pilots. 
 
Mako Mori was an action girl, and a rather quiet dignified example of Girl Power done right imo.