Robin S. Blackwood

I enjoyed quite a bit of Clarke and Asimov as a teenager--but only after getting into science fiction via Doctor Who, and also I read them of my own accord and not because I was told "you must read this, it's a classic". And some other "classics of the genre" were very offputting to me even so.

And some of them are better read when someone is old enough to understand the ways in which they're a product of their time (or in some cases, *more* prejudiced than most people of their time).

I think that's true, but I don't think that all of these writers are necessarily the best books to give to a child as the first science fiction books they read--even though I enjoyed some Verne and Asimov in my childhood myself (but it was after getting into science fiction via Doctor Who).

Reading the zine about mad scientists and monsters that I bought a few weeks ago at Pride, and there's a poem called "I'm just a Modern Prometheus, of course I've had it in the ear before" and I had to put the zine down for a moment to just be in awe of the mind that came up with that combination.

I can agree with not dissing the Crypt Keeper on principle but I'm now very curious what this was in response to.

Do you need help developing your original characters and lore?

Have I got a list for you! Please 🔁 this post for your creator friends!

#originalcharacter | #OC | #OCsky

a screen capture of the Kickstarter campaign for Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Cozy Academia Anthology, showing that $20,231 have been raised from 366 backers with 0 seconds left. Little motes of colored confetti are scattered over the right side of the screen capture.

"We Funded" confetti, my beloved!!!

WE DID IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE WHO BACKED!

I GOT MY BAT STICKERS!!! 🙏🙌🏻❤️ go get this awesome, very popular anthology of cozy academia. You have…13 minutes! 😂

We just hit the stretch goal with a mere 17 minutes to go!!!!

A huge thank you to the folks on here, and everywhere else, who helped. :D

Now is probably not the moment for me to announce another stretch goal, right? 🤣

Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Cozy Academia Anthology A collection of 22 delightfully queer, charmingly cozy stories that put a fluffy LGBTQIA+ spin on the dark academia genre.

Last hour to back Scholarly Pursuits and we're $298 away from that second stretch goal that would triple author pay!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc...
Meeting the stretch goal would also mean backers (who aren't ebook-only) get bat stickers!

I am not going to rank them, but, in no particular order, Ann Leckie, Terry Pratchett, Ursula Le Guin, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, T.Kingfisher.

$402 from the stretch goal as of when I'm typing this!

Authors get a raise, backers with physical Stuff get a sticker!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc...

Unfortunately what you say about a one-size-fits-all-system being economically necessary might well be true. But while you might be right about the worst issues, I think there's other bad treatment of children that's socially *encouraged* so supervision won't solve it, though that varies culturally.

I don't know. I know the kind of education I'm picturing is possible, and works, but not how it could be made to work at scale for everyone and not relying on parents' money/education levels/being decent people who want their children to learn.

And/or there were factors in their life outside of school that made the kids give up on learning--such as being told they weren't going to amount to anything from early on as too many kids who don't fit certain moulds are.

And I'd bet that when they were 3 or 4 those kids had the same "what's this, what's that? I want to learn! I'm going to ask 100 questions in a row!" instinct as any other kid but the school failed to translate that natural enthusiasm into learning new things into enthusiasm for their lessons.

And I think that's down to the way schools teach and also what an artificial environment it is, being inside in the same building expected to sit still at a desk and listen in silence for such huge chunks of the day. There are better ways to learn that kids will actually find fun.

I don't think "compelling children to lock in" is the answer. Young children before school age show pretty clear signs that curiosity and wanting to learn is a natural instinct in children (like it is in most young creatures) but after a few years in school for all too many that instinct is gone.

I don't think "hierarchy imposing itself more" is a solution to many, if any, problems, honestly, but I'm curious to know what you think it would solve in schools.

Mm, I just feel like "school" in an ideal world would need to look very different--much less hierarchical, amongst other things--than schools today, to the point where it might not be easily recognised as the same thing. I'd run into character count limits quickly if I tried to discuss it in detail.

But that perspective is affected by me being from the UK which feels like it has more of a tradition than some countries of "schools are to teach kids discipline and obedience" (often with the attitude that parents are at risk of indulging and spoiling their kids so a teacher has to be strict).

I don't think anyone can be trusted with absolute power over another human being either, I just worry that schools aren't a good solution to this issue since (at least in my experience) they often boil down to "give someone absolute power over a whole classroom of children".

That last is true, unfortunately. I just have very little trust in governments to run the school system right either given that within my lifetime it was illegal where I am (the UK) for teachers to say or do anything that might make children think being gay was acceptable.

There's a real chance of hitting the second stretch goal (triple pay for authors! bat stickers for backers!) but it's by no means guaranteed...
I think we can do it. And this isn't just me wanting more money, there's A LOT of amazing authors in here who deserve it.

Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Cozy Academia Anthology A collection of 22 delightfully queer, charmingly cozy stories that put a fluffy LGBTQIA+ spin on the dark academia genre.

7 hours left and we're a bit over $1k from the second stretch goal, are you for real??

www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc...

My parents encouraged me to think for myself and learn and told me I could do anything. School told me to sit down, shut up, do as I was told, not ask questions about anything not in the lesson plan, not read books that weren't on the list for my age group, and conform to my assigned birth gender.

I feel like the problem with this is the number of governments that would use this to brainwash kids into little authoritarians themselves.

Seeing us stuck on 299 backers is driving me crazy, who's going to be the 300th?

Last day to get your pledges in!! To celebrate, here’s a “meet the characters” I put together for my story (and some fan casts! 🤭)