SF writers Jim C Hines and John Scalzi dress up as sexy female assassins to raise money for The Aicardi Syndrome Foundation

Science fiction writers Jim C Hines and John Scalzi donned sexy garters, high heels, little black dresses and, um, crossbows, and replicated the odd cover of Vicki Pettersson's "The Taste of the Night," competing to see who could was most credible as a sexy female assassin book-cover illustration lady. They were raising money for The Aicardi Syndrome Foundation, a very good cause indeed. Also, Scalzi wore a wig.

Be sure and click the link below for the backstory that makes this all somehow plausible, to see the mind-searing full-size images, and to learn more about the most excellent fundraiser.

Pose-off with John Scalzi (via Whatever)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: charitable giving • fantasy • Funny • gender • illustration • science fiction • Weird • writing

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eruditeogre

Yeah, but Jim shaved his LEG!
http://twitter.com/Neowolf2 Neowolf

Some things that are seen cannot be unseen.
- Preston Sturges
  
  Lemon party
- ZikZak
  
  At some point, we’re no longer laughing at sexist sci-fi tropes, we’re laughing at men in feminine dress and poses.
  
  I’m not going to lie, that can be funny. But the commentary about how awful or disturbing it is makes me wonder exactly what the message is supposed to be here.
  - Preston Sturges
    
    I’m just jealous that they are pulling off that look better than i ever could.
  - http://twitter.com/poperatzo Pope Ratzo
    
    The message is that Milton Berle was a genius.
  - http://evilbobdayjob.blogspot.com/ Deidzoeb
    
    From Jim Hines’ blog: “Way back in the beginning of 2012 when I started doing this cover pose thing, the idea was to take the poses many female characters are contorted into for book covers, and to find a way to highlight exactly how ridiculous and impractical they were. And also to have fun. … The trouble is, I didn’t spend much time introducing and contextualizing the Cover Pose Tradition at the start of the fundraiser. And when we did the first Scalzi/Hines pose-off, while I plugged the fundraiser, I didn’t provide any context at all for why we were doing this.”
    
    http://www.jimchines.com/2012/12/wait-what-were-we-laughing-at/
Marky

They both forgot their knives.

My neuralizer need new battries, and I’m all out of eyeball bleach.
- GlyphGryph
  
  Actually, if you look at the full size picture, they both have their knives. They are just kind of hard to see in the small ones.
franko

Scalzi, by a landslide.
Hegelian

And now what, do we get female writers posing as the cliche’d shirtless hunks on the cover of romance novels?
- GlyphGryph
  
  Actually, yes! Didn’t you read the next milestones?
  
  (Specifically, the 5k goal is a group shot with a male center character that will be played by a woman, and a harem of females played by the men. And it’s already had it’s goal reached!)
- DavidK44
  
  As they reached $5000, Mary Robinette Kowal will join Hines, Scalzi, Pat Rothfuss and Charles Stross in a pose-off at ConFusion. Mary will take the male role; they already have a cover in mind.
millie fink

Will you shave your legs AND your arms when it’s your turn Cory?
http://profile.yahoo.com/W7RHFJZISREGXKJLPDOXG3NX2U Steve Pan

Scalzi is the best scifi writer
mikedt

So they want me to give money or they’ll continue to post pictures like this?
Zyr

Is a crossbow a standard writing tool?
http://2012diaries.blogspot.com/ tristan eldritch

As to which makes the more credible sexy assassin, I think that would be what is called an Alien versus Predator-type question.
http://twitter.com/poperatzo Pope Ratzo

I’d hit that.
Richard Wolff

competing to see who could was most credible as a sexy female assassin book-cover illustration lady.

not so good at being literate here and maybe its just me but isn’t that just a terrible sentence?
JuicyLA

“mind-searing”? Man, it’s so awful when men dress the ways that you’re totally fine having women dress.
rocketpjs

I thought the whole point is that the way women are portrayed on book covers (and specifically SF&F covers) is absurd, and they are duplicating the poses as a way to underline the absurdity of the situation.
- rocketpjs
  
  And for what it’s worth, I am totally OK with women dressing however they please – including strapless assassin gowns with garters or whatever. But I am inclined to agree that the ridiculous ‘chainmail bikini’ book cover thing is something to be mocked.
  
  I am also OK with anyone at all wearing those things or anything else. But the writers are mocking the specific book cover sexy awkward pose thing. And I think they do a fine job of it.
SoItBegins

This is hilari-awesome.
http://germanwotd.com Amelia_G

Love it! More eyeliner and black lingerie, please.