Links from around the web 7-22-15

I really liked Liz Bourke’s post on “Conversations Founded on False Assumptions“: “Examining what we like, what we admire, and why we like it, is the work of a lifetime. But if we don’t, we end up reinforcing structural inequities as though they were the natural way of the world—and there’s nothing natural about rendering invisible people who’ve been here all along.” However, I have it on good authority that the comments are DOOM! DOOM!!

Related, somewhat: Renay wrote an amazing post on the weight of genre history and canon for Strange Horizons. I highly recommend reading the whole thing. “In SF, this pressure feels doubled because it feels like there’s a push to value stories by and about men more but also a keen pressure to be educated in the genre, the genre lines, and the fandom’s history itself. You don’t just need to read Heinlein, Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, Niven, Herbert, Card…but you need to be able to contextualize them, too, if you want to have critical chops or be taken seriously.”

And this interview with Noelle Stevenson was really great, I thought! (via Stephanie Burgis)

On a more serious note, this article from The Guardian on the hidden history of British slavery is really important.

Artwork: I love this; also this; this is so beautiful and fairytale-esque

Queen’s Thief fanart: Lilies; the dog watch of the night

THIS HOBBIT FANART IS NOT OKAY. NOT OKAY AT ALL.

These cats are trying to jump. They’re just not doing it very well.