Star Wars was the first fictional universe that I ever fell deeply into. It opened up a door to all other fictional universes, but no other fiction ever imprinted so deeply on me.

As a kid I absorbed everything Star Wars. The original trilogy were essentially a holy canon, and below them were all the books, comics, games, action figures, and everything else that was created out of them.

Even when I was a kid, and increasingly with age there are parts of the Star Wars EU I recognize as bad. I realized it was okay to not like certain parts of the universe, and even to head canon away or fudge events when thinking about Star Wars. My own personal enjoyment comes from focusing on what I like; I’m enjoying the way the universe opens my imagination rather than being slavish to what a legal owner of an imaginary universe declares. I also don’t subscribe to the strange notion that a “better fan” likes more of a fictional universe’s content by volume. If you’ve never encountered such an argument about Star Wars or another fictional universe, I assure you it gets made. It is silly. A person can like one movie from the whole original trilogy as the only piece of Star Wars media and still be a deep fan, they are just very niche in what they like.

This brings me to my real topic: The Disney era, the mass negativity, the infighting. It’s, frankly, exhausting.

I rarely dwell on extended wholesale negativity regarding Star Wars. To be clear, I really, really don’t like the sequel trilogy or its effect on the universe. This is one of the very few times I even bring those feelings up, because to me as a Star Wars fan I’d rather spend the time and energy talking about what I like about the universe than endlessly commiserating with other dejected fans or getting into debates with fans who like what I don’t like.

There’s no wrong way to appreciate a fictional universe, but there is a wrong way to engage as a fan. That wrong way is nonstop criticism and argument while never highlighting what you like. If you’re a fan, show other people what made you a fan. It has a better chance at elevating your tastes in the group consciousness compared to just making critiques that have likely already been made to death.

I prefer the old EU to most of the new Disney stuff, that’s no secret, but I can still appreciate something made by Disney without betraying some imaginary tribe of the fandom I’m supposed to belong to. Even as simple as concept art that I like which ended up in a movie or show I disliked, my first reaction is always to appreciate how good the art is, and let it grab my imagination.

The old EU has been officially ended. That’s sad for a fan like me. However there is over 30 years of backlog in that EU and even an obsessed fan like me hasn’t seen all of it. There’s a lot of Star Wars to go through, not even counting the bright spots I find in the modern canon.

That’s it really. Just, if you like a fictional universe, show people what you liked and give that a chance to grow. As a fan, I like talking about liking Star Wars, not talking about how I hate Star Wars.