It’s heeeeeeere! https://twitter.com/fozmeadows/status/1356905987941167104

OK, SO: before I begin tonight's critical skim-reread of Anne McCaffrey's Damia (which, if you're wondering why I'm doing this, check the threads linked above), some background: Damia is the 2nd book in The Tower and the Hive series, which I haven't read since I was a teen.

The first book in the series, The Rowan, details the childhood rescue of the titular heroine, the Rowan, who has powerful psychic abilities, and her subsequent upbringing and lovelife. Her BFF throughout this is a guy called Afra, whose love for the Rowan is never requited.

This is relevant here because Afra is the endgame love interest of the also-titular heroine of this second book, Damia, who is - you guessed it! - the Rowan's daughter, whom Afra has known since her infancy. And from memory - which is why this skimcrit - it gets... weird.

Also from memory, I thiiiiink Afra is meant to be Black? Or a MOC of some sort? But he's also green - like, there is a green tint to his skin and hair, because something something future planet biosphere something - so I'm not 100% on that. But I'm mentioning it ahead of time -

- because WOW was I taken aback by the sheer amount of baldfaced racism in McCaffrey's Pegasus in Flight, which prompted this whole thing, and for anyone following along with this, I want you to be prepared for the prospect of More Racism Ahoy.

So, with all that established: I'M GOING IN.

oh I Don’t Like That

It’s hardly unique to McCaffrey, but goddamn, I hate when “sissy” is used like this, especially for a tiny child.

By McCaffrey’s standards this is deeply culturally sensitive, and yet I cannot get past the use of “brown chief” to describe a man who is evidently of Japanese descent.

IM WHEEZING SHE NAMED A RANDOM SPACE CAT GARFIELD

Absolutely galaxy-brained Anglocentricism here, to have humanity populating the solar system but a guy who lives ON ACTUAL EARTH doesn’t know where Japan is.

Hey, I’ve just met you and this is crazy, but do you wanna come to a brothel maybe?

When I tell you my heart rate LEAPT before I realised this was referring to a cat!! Like. I assume this is a reference to the Main Coon breed, but Perhaps This Wasn’t Entirely Necessary??

Ah yes, the evergreen trope of Boy Losing His Virginity So Good That Sex Worker Declares Him Her Favourite

Super cool to talk about needing a “mate” because you’ve gotta breed your special psychic talents into the next generation!

McCaffrey is just... So Weird about sex, you guys. It always comes out Weird.

This is some skeevy fuckin’ foreshadowing and also eerily close to what the pedophile substitute teacher says to Tiffany in that one episode of Daria, so like. Unintentionally apropos!

“potent young male”

also if every single dude could stop obsessing over who the rowan is gonna fuck that would be Nice, but given these first few chapters are just a recap of the first book only from Afra’s POV that is Unlikely

Give her some fucking PRIVACY ffs

“So hey, this is a totally normal thing for your big boss to ask, but your other boss might’ve just lost her lover so I need you to pinch-hit and fuck her so she doesn’t go crazy - I’d do it myself, but I’m too far away.”

Y I K E S

She has been gone for literally THREE WEEKS, YOU ARE NOT NOTICING HER PREGNANCY BECAUSE OF WEIGHT GAIN AT THIS POINT

In a better universe, “Do you love her so little that you cannot welcome her husband with open arms?” would be the prelude to a bi and poly OT3 instead of Afra waiting to fuck their daughter. AND YET.

“Is it cool that I would’ve been willing to fuck your wife?”
“It’s the coolest; I’m only sorry I don’t have any spare female relatives for you to marry.”

Well, THAT adds another layer of skeevy to the eventual relationship

Also please note that we’re now 89 pages into a book called Damia and DAMIA HASNT EVEN BEEN BORN YET

And that’s when I stabbed him, your honour.

A special ominous psychic signal just for the ladies!

108 pages into a 336 page book, the titular character has finally been born!

And lo, the meet-cute between a one-year-old Damia and grown-ass adult Afra.

brb, throwing up in my mouth a bit at Afra calling baby Damia “minxlette” because of the future context

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE

I knew things were gonna get skeevy but the romance-coded puns and language used to talk about Afra and baby Damia is REALLY FUCKING UNSETTLING

ABSOLUTELY THE FUCK NOT

This book: Afra is old enough to think a 29yo is a child
Also this book: Afra will be seduced by a tween he’s known since infancy

Very cool that the Rowan is apparently willing to, in effect, rape her husband to get another kid that he isn’t ready for yet!

OH WAIT COOL SHE ALREADY WENT AND YOINKED HIS SPERM WITHOUT ASKING, THAT’S NOT A CREEPY BODILY VIOLATION AT ALL

I’ll say this for McCaffrey: she’s willing to let her female characters struggle realistically with the balance of work and family as well as the trials of different pregnancies and children’s personalities in a way that a lot of authors still struggle with.

This book is so messed up in so many ways, but the Rowan having to deal with gestational diabetes and feeling a failure because of it rings very true - and is, again, a realistic, difficult aspect of pregnancy often missing from SFF novels.

...aaaand we’re back to the nonsense. Damia is TWO, the words “coy” and “beguiling” have NO PLACE BEING ANYWHERE NEAR HER

Damia is now nine, recovering from a head injury, and this is some Renesmee/Jacob bullshit

The last time we got Damia’s age she was nine. It’s possible she’s older now, maybe 11 or so, but this is still a reeeeeally skeevy conversation for her parents to be having.

OK COOL I GUESS WE’LL JUST HAVE A FOUR YEAR TIME JUMP TO DAMIA, AGED SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 13 AND 15, SHOWING OFF NAKED FOR AFRA. COOL COOL COOL NOT REMOTELY BAD, IM JUST GONNA GO BREAK SOME STUFF

EXTREMELY COOL AND NORMAL FOR AN ADULT MAN TO OIL UP A NAKED UNDERAGED TEEN, I AM SCREAMIIIIIIING

apparently the thread broke here SO: https://twitter.com/fozmeadows/status/1360125644730863616