@Shrigglepuss I might hesitate before blocking Bear immediately.

It sounds like she would make a terrible moderator, and inaction on her part caused the comments section of something she'd written to get super toxic in 2009.

The world has changed in the last thirteen years or so, and in light of some of the other work she's done in shifting the needle in sci fi lit fields, I think it might be worth holding space for her to have grown, as well.

I would advise a block at the first sign of red flags, though, especially around race stuff. But that's just my take here.

IMO, Bear played a substantial role in shifting science fiction literature (and the surrounding older fandom community) out of a space where all characters were white, Christian men, and into a space where the characters at least looked different, even if she is still writing from the perspective of a white woman. She's not perfect, but I do think she's tried to make stuff better, and has made an impact particularly on what is or isn't assessed as "publishable". That's just my take, though, and I have read a lot of her stuff.

It also seems like her emotional bandwidth tends to stay kinda 'used up', like she gets emotionally overwhelmed kinda often. Which isn't an excuse, but idk, it might give context? I get the impression that when that happens, she doesn't tend to head online.

My read is that she'd make a bad moderator, but might be a fine user. We met briefly a while back and she seemed emotionally drained and physically tired, but polite. I imagine with her cancer, she is maybe more drained now than she was.

I can't speak to Scott Lynch; the things I'm seeing on him are more concerning. While I understand they're married, they do appear to be two different people, and it seems like they should be moderated as such.