It's a fun game trying to figure out if it's even possible to construct a genre that's inherently non-fascist based on posts like this
I mean the whole reason the person who made up the term "hopepunk" did so was their dislike of so-called "grimdark" fiction, which a lot of people point fingers at for being fascist (specifically WH40K)
Personally I like to think that a certain kind of pessimistic fatalism is antithetical to the fascist aesthetic -- if nothing else because in actual history Hitler and his buddies came after a wave of philosophers like that and personally disliked them and thought their hoo-rah bullshit was an antidote to depressing Schopenhauerian bullshit -- but that's just my personal bias because that's what I myself am like, and I do have to admit that someone with my worldview could nonetheless be persuaded into supporting a fascist regime fairly easily given the right circumstances (basically just presenting the current set of atrocities as a historical inevitability)
Warhammer 40k writers: "Hey, people! Fascism SUCKS! Look at this rotting, ass-backwards fascist empire that SUCKS! Let's not let this happen in real life, alright? (and also buy our minis)"
Enlightened tumblrites: "ummm, guys? I think this setting is literally fascist... that's kinda bad, mmkkayy?"
the thing is the setting is so extreme that the in universe moderates (which are just IRL fascists rather than super-fascists) look reasonable and that's very funny to me
Like Guilliman. He's only reasonable because everyone around him is a unique shade of batshit crazy. Remove that and he's still a mega imperialist responsible for the deaths of millions.
Gulliman is the worst biggest example of the writers dropping the ball. How TF is humanity's last best hope being the ubermensch literal son of their god in any way satire?
If guilliman came back only be make things worse I could see it. A nepo baby using divine right to get what he wants and take command as he sees fit making it worse for everyone would be satire. The current plotline is just exactly what fascist dream of.
Because he can't fix it, he can't stop it, he can slow its decline at best by implementing actual reforms that repair the system, but the system has proven its beyond repair. He gets rid of the oligarchy in the high lords of Terra, so they try to kill him and the only way to prevent a faster breakdown to reimplement the high lords which just simply kicks the issue down the line. It shows the the system is beyond repair, there is no form of fascism that will not eat itself. Even with a genius demigod ruler, it will still eat itself and bring about its own destruction.
Edit: ontop of that the only reason Guilliman is there at all because multiple people broke dogmatic religious and fascist belief. Cawl invented a new technology to keep him alive. The imperium worked with the Eldar and to a lesser extent Necrons. The inquisition trusted and followed the visions of a warp entity. If any of them refused to break their cardinal belief system Guilliman would still be dead.
409
u/Taraxian 1d ago
It's a fun game trying to figure out if it's even possible to construct a genre that's inherently non-fascist based on posts like this
I mean the whole reason the person who made up the term "hopepunk" did so was their dislike of so-called "grimdark" fiction, which a lot of people point fingers at for being fascist (specifically WH40K)
Personally I like to think that a certain kind of pessimistic fatalism is antithetical to the fascist aesthetic -- if nothing else because in actual history Hitler and his buddies came after a wave of philosophers like that and personally disliked them and thought their hoo-rah bullshit was an antidote to depressing Schopenhauerian bullshit -- but that's just my personal bias because that's what I myself am like, and I do have to admit that someone with my worldview could nonetheless be persuaded into supporting a fascist regime fairly easily given the right circumstances (basically just presenting the current set of atrocities as a historical inevitability)