freedom-of-fanfic:

‘why don’t antis just make their own archive if they hate AO3 so much?’

because fandom policers won’t feel safe enough if they just establish a safe space they control. they will only feel safe once every space is a ‘safe space’ they control. 

(wherein ‘safe space’ is ‘space that follows my social rules/makes me & my own feel safe’, not ‘a place where everyone present feels safe’.)

at heart, I think most fandom policers are afraid: afraid of being ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’.

afraid of exposure to new ideas.

afraid of facing the trauma of past experiences, and afraid of being hurt by new experiences. afraid to tolerate the worldviews of others; afraid to admit that more than one healthy way of reacting to the horrible things in this world exists. and fandom/fanworks are full of these things, because they come from such a diverse group of people.

the existence of anything outside their control means they could, at any moment, encounter something that makes them afraid – and being reminded that they are afraid makes them angry. but anger is a ‘bad’ emotion – unless it’s righteous anger, or justified anger. so: everything that makes them angry is a dangerous influence that must be destroyed. justification established. now it is their duty to make the world a space that’s ‘safe’ for them.

tl;dr policing fandom is an authoritarian social model, and authoritarianism is about assuaging fear by assuming absolute control.

unfortunately for them, it’s an impossible task. (unfortunately for us, it won’t stop them from trying.)

don’t donate to AO3 out of fear of antis; donate to AO3 because it’s proven a trustworthy archive that’s worth keeping running. and hey: did you know the number one way that authoritarians become less authoritarian is by experiencing the things they’re scared of? maybe keeping AO3 up will even help turn some of these folks around.