A warning and a recommendation
I've reblogged several posts lately reminding everyone that the current Presidential election cycle is a stark contest between democracy as we know it and outright fascism.
Let me point out one thing this could mean to many of us.
Project 2025 -- the "think tank" for a Tr=mp adminstration -- includes among its goals the abolition and criminalization of "pornography," calling for jail time for those who create and distribute sexually explicit material.
Do you write explicit fanfiction, or read it? Then you are a pornographer and/or a supporter of the distribution of pornography. Do you think, if these people gain power, that fandom will escape their notice? Do you think it will matter to them that no money changes hands when you upload works to AO3 or elsewhere, or read others' work there? Do you think that access to AO3 will continue without incident? Do you think fan writers -- we know, sadly, from assorted fan wars how easily someone can be "doxxed" -- will be spared harassment, including criminal charges?
I don't. I am hoping for the best. But I am also:
-- Downloading onto my hard drive, and backing up on external drives, copies of all my own work as it appears on AO3, even if I have the drafts
-- Downloading the fics I loved and bookmarked
-- Soon, as time allows, downloading my RIDICULOUSLY long Marked For Later list
I recommend that all of us who love our fanfic, whatever the rating, do the same with all deliberate speed. And if the idea of needing to do this freaks the hell out of you, it should.
"They" won't come for your fanfic? Yeah, like "they" didn't come for Roe after 50 years (during all of which I was screaming at everyone I knew that "they" would). We could be, in the change of an administration, back to the days of fanfiction samizdat passed around clandestinely, even of banning shows and films that positively represent sexual expression and variation. To some of "them," the mere depiction of queer and trans people equals pornography, even if they are only holding hands or going to the farmers' market.
We take for granted that any time we choose, we can enjoy fiction -- in many cases sensitively, dazzlingly and affirmingly written -- which features infinite variation in gender, relationships and self-expression, and the harmless joy of good horny fun. That has helped people process and validate their sexual trauma, identity or experience. That celebrates an essential aspect of human nature, one which is the first that authoritarians try to stifle. That's revolutionary, and not remotely true of the whole world.
If the thought of having to prepare for losing that, and the community it's given all of us, jolts you, then VOTE Blue this fall (and if you are not in the US but care what happens here, signal boost this post). It's not the time for a performative third-party vote (or no-vote) that tells the Democrats you've given them a "do better" grade. All that will do is hand power to people who will do fuck-all to correct the worst errors of the current administration, and will most likely double down and make them worse. Save it for after November, when you will still, if you vote against fascism, have the freedom to work for a government that truly reflects your values. Right now, it's hammer time.
*This is a rare political post; tagging my usual list in the replies. If you want to get on or off my list, or be tagged for fanfic posts only, lmk.
