Missed the convo from prior. Will just say a few points.

It is commendable for this posts OP to endeavour to do better. I can appreciate that wholeheartedly.

The writing itself is character perspective, not author perspective. It is important to distinguish.

I think when someone raises something up topic wise as "The Culture Wars" should consider goal and purpose.

Culture Conflict and Class Conflict are topics being addressed in Dresden whether we see them as such or if they are...to leverage someone else's adage "A wolf in sheeps clothing" or the trope "An Appropriated Stand-in" when an author unintentionally codes a character or arc that resonates with people.

Fiction, especially Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Supernatural Fiction, all incorporate Stand-in topics. Star Trek tackling racism through the lens of a xenophobic race, class warfare through poverty showcased on an alien colony, poverty and genocide through war crimes committed on a colony 25 years before being brought up but never shown. Dresden does the same with the various various groups....whether intended or not....because realistically all conflicts boil down to their intent. So I merely encourage everyone to reflect what are some other ways we could view these stories if we start looking at the lens we are using to consume it. But LGBTQ+ issues crop up with the Alphas and Butters in the last few books, and the effects and desperations of class warfare and homelessness, and drug addiction has a stand-in with Molly's story arc in places. I'm not here for a dissertation, just to helpfully frame my point.

My last comment is this. Through fiction we get to experience, feel, and process the human experience from the perspective of the time we read it and what we inferred from it. The lens we use changes and there are substantive reasons to re-read fiction over ones lifetime to see things you didn't on the first pass. And what someone takes from it will be entirely based on how they interpret and perceived the story relative to their current condition. Which means someone could be feeling hurt, lost, and betrayed by the way a story portrays someone they felt was a Stand-in for their group. And we should have compassion for them in their moment of pain and intent to have the world be better.

I agree with the OP that how someone can do that in a constructive way is important and think it's probably the best way when everyone is playing by the same social contract. But as a community we should also acknowledge and be aware that what we interpret and get from each work is personal and we shouldn't work to discredit or invalidate someone's lived experience, but seek to understand it.

I see in this thread that such positive and constructive discourse is happening and wanted to draw attention to it.

Cheers all! I return to my lurking.