Remember the Russian cult that venerated Gadget Hackwrench as a goddess? (I want all my cults to be that benign.) Worshipers or no worshipers, she had a good run -- nothing like twenty-odd years of internet fan fiction and art to keep a character's flame burning.

But things change. Some of the younger members of our community have no idea who Gadget is, or why so many annoying, middle-aged furs are, or were, so obsessed with her. Each furry generation has its cartoon lodestar, and it's clear that Judy Hopps is the new Gadget: the reigning queen of Rule 34.

Not that I'm kvetching; my days of drawing Rule 34 stuff are long over (as are my days of reading most fanfic). Judy is inspiring a lot of artists to do some of their best work, and that's always a pleasure to see.

I guess the point I'm making is that change is hard, but change can be good. Certainly, change is inevitable. So, my cartoon girls -- l'chaim!