Yeah I'm glad it didn't shy away from the absolutely dreadful shit in the books / that the author said while also acknowledging the series' strengths.

Apparently the artist (Michael Whelan) is on Bluesky, too!

This also explains the abstinence-only vs comprehensive sex ed (including birth control and consent) fight.

And Gaiman isn't the only example of someone's fave celeb/politician weathering accusations to maintain a career/popularity. I mean christ alive, Jared Leto JUST starred in a big-budget movie!

(this is not to defend her nonsense, but that it's interesting how some bad actors - usually men - get to maintain their status as Mainstays of the Genre, while others get memoryholed much faster)

Honestly the Issues this series (and author) have had are not that egregious compared to some of the other Luminaries of the era [looks askance at Heinlein], but McCaffrey seems to have left less of a mark on nerd/pop culture than her male counterparts somehow.

Incredible work.

I cannot get over how pretty your eyes are. The whole face is a+ but those EYES!

It's like asking "is The Mummy gay?" Well, not TECHNICALLY, but.

The flip side of this is, of course, the refrain of "it's not that deep" from fans refusing to engage (or attacking those who engage) in thoughtful critique of their faces or even their own attitudes/behaviors in community spaces, etc.

I'm also thinking of media being *produced* to feed this thoughtless cycle: the infamous "themes are for book reports" per the GoT showrunners, the way most movies are made in post so actors work in vacuums, writers changing plots based on fan theories or trending hashtags, etc.

Humans are inherently varied and creative in our perspectives. The difference between an "audience" and a "community" is *how* we engage with our shared cultural touchstones. And late-stage capitalism wants us to be nothing more than audiences, mindlessly handing over $$. Don't fall for it.

There is, of course, a difference between accepting a reading of a text based on bigoted ideals and accepting that other people may just ship or headcanon a character differently than you, it should be noted.

We should also learn to sit with discomfort, to hear when our Faves aren't perfect (and to not immediately strike things from cultural memory for small imperfections), to appreciate a multiplicity of readings even when they conflict.

Loving something deeply over time while also being critical of it, rejecting the Good/Bad binary (even if it's dressed up in progressive language), engaging with deeper themes and meanings when we find them, sharing our enthusiasm for older faves even when fandoms move on.

I think if there's any advice or solution I can offer, it's this: to slow down, to be more aware when we're being snared by the Churn Cycle, to revisit old favorites w/new eyes, to take *time* to analyze what we like & dislike about media on a personal level, not according to a buzzword checklist.

The tropification of media - fanfic tags as marketing material and structural glue for mainstream narratives - is also a result of this. Easy to sell, easy to write, easy to discuss, easy to move on from, because the framework is familiar to everyone by now.

And this is ALSO not to say that there aren't those who buck these trends, or whose skills at critically consuming & then commenting on media aren't equipped to do so at speed, just that our culture doesn't reward slow digestion or the revisiting of older media, bc that's not where profit lies.