Microblog Memes

I would say, up until the hiatus, it was very much the "Not All Cops Are Bastards" kind of work. Murphy (who was apparently the insert of Butcher's now ex-wife) is obvious but even her partner mostly is just "guilty" of thinking this weird PI who knows things he shouldn't and is constantly seen talking with criminals might not be on the up and up. Same with Morgan (? Harry's magic parole officer) who mostly was just depicted as so focused on justice and the danger of black magic that he didn't trust the guy who had previously used black magic and who is canonically going to go REAL fucking dark later.

And Michael et al are VERY cop adjacent.

But things really shifted once Harry became a magic cop himself. The "I am opposed to authority but damn if I don't look good with a badge" kind of story.

Then we had the hiatus and came back to The Battle of Chicago where Butcher spent a full chapter worshiping cops and talking about how they are the literal light in the darkness.

Which is pretty consistent with a lot of copaganda (also military propaganda). The idea that there are bad eggs but by and large they are great and here is this godlike human being that also happens to be a cop. Think "Dirty Harry" or a LOT of Donnie Yen movies.

Contrast that with someone like a Richard Kadrey who makes it an entire plot point that one of the big bads is a cop who is literally protected by police unions and qualified immunity (also there is zero chance that Richard Kadrey doesn't have hundreds of pages of very explicit Sonic OC fan fiction. And I say that as a compliment).

And on the "weirdo" note: Let's just say it is a very open secret who Lara Raithe is "inspired by". Although many women in the publishing and convention organizing community have stories of being compared to her... And everyone tries not to think too hard who Molly (Harry's best friend's daughter that he knew almost her entire life who just can't stop throwing her tight naked body at Harry...) is.