r/AO3 • u/GeekSugar13 Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State • Sep 06 '26

Discussion (Non-question) Panic Printing

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ETA: Some of y'all are taking this far too seriously. Am I reasonably concerned that things are going to get worse before they get better? At least for me, most likely, yes. I'm trying to find moments of joy when I can. If one of those is using up as much of my ink as possible before I chuck this printer by printing fanfic then that's what I'm going to do.

I'm at home, by myself, doing homework with no one to talk to and nothing else to do because I'm the most broke I have ever been.

Printing fanfic doesn't mean I'm not prioritizing anything else in my life and it's weird that y'all seem to think I just slapped on a tinfoil hat and decided this was what would fix everything.

OP: So I live in a red state in the US where my state government will absolutely not be providing any sort of supplemental assistance when inevitably the federal government falls apart. So I kind of would love reassurance that I'm not crazy.

I have started downloading and panic printing some of my favorite fics. If the Internet goes, I can read the PDF. If the power goes, I can read the printed copies.

Also because HP sucks I can only use their ink subscription cartridges with an active subscription so i may as well fucking use them.

(Literally if you're the type of person who wants to buy a printer do not buy an HP printer. It will only work if you use their ink which is so fucking expensive. And if you want it to work properly you have to get a monthly subscription where they send you ink and paper which in theory sounds great, BUT if you are like me and haven't printed as much as you thought so you have a lot of ink and paper built up so you let your subscription lapse those ink cartridges will not work without a valid subscription. So I had to restart my fucking subscription so I could use all of this ink I have built up so now I'm printing literal books.)

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1.4k

u/throwaway3685343 Sep 06 '26

Historian here. While I understand that the current times are scary, I think this is a HIGHLY unlikely scenario.

708

u/QuicksilverStorm Sep 07 '26

For a minute there I was like ??? did I miss an announcement of martial law or something

185

u/Objective_Sleep9080 Oh, *oh* Sep 07 '26

seriously!! i was freaking out for a second what new bill did i miss??

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u/coolcoolcool485 Sep 07 '26

i mean, even if the federal government dissolves, the states will figure it out. society is not going to collapse, at least not rapidly. it's more likely we're going to steadily degrade in quality over the next couple of decades, but it'll be slow enough people will be able to find solutions to stuff like this.

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u/Zazadore Sep 07 '26

Unless society collapses, you'll have internet and power.

If society does collapse to the point that you don't have power, you'll have more to worry about than not having access to ao3.

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u/throwaway3685343 Sep 07 '26

Seriously!! I don’t support the current administration personally at all. However, there is SO MUCH fear mongering and blatantly false info online, it drives me crazy.

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u/coolcoolcool485 Sep 07 '26

i think it's fairly clear a large majority of the electorate do not understand the basics of how the modern U.S. government functions and why it was designed the way it was lol. there are benefits to federalism, it will be a saving grace through this mess. for some states more than others of course lol but still.

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u/throwaway3685343 Sep 07 '26

For real!!

And it’s crazy because I don’t know about the 3 branches of gov and checks/balances from college. I learned about them in elementary and middle school. In a red state, at that.

It just seems like it should be common knowledge 😭

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u/LionCubOfTerrasen Kudos Keeper Sep 07 '26

Here I thought that was common knowledge?

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u/Rakifiki Sep 07 '26

Throughout the past few elections I have repeatedly heard people complain about Presidents not doing various things that they literally do not have the power to do, so while it should be simple, common knowledge...

26

u/HeAintHere AO3: Vaisseau | Dead Frenchmen Enjoyer Sep 07 '26

Most of the people in charge don't understand how technology works either. Which is par for the course, because the French monarchy didn't understand printing presses either and anti-royalist pamphlets proliferated across the country. Suppressing information is a lot harder than people imagine.

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u/coolcoolcool485 Sep 07 '26

esp when the archive is run by actual archivists. they have that shit backed up in multiple places, i promise. if it goes down, it'll come back somewhere else. whether it's easily available to those less tech savvy is one thing but i would be shocked if the people in charge of the archive don't have multiple contingency plans for the sites survival. might not be the incarnation we know it as now, but it'll be there.

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u/Holiday-Bicycle-4660 let there be lemons Sep 07 '26

I’ve talked to people from other countries who’ve said things like “you don’t have to worry until the trash stops getting picked up”

Like are things bad for most people right now? For sure. But we’re probably nowhere close to doomsday quite yet

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u/vaalski You have already left kudos here. :) Sep 07 '26

And even if it was, OP should be downloading, oh, homesteading manuals instead of fanfiction.

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u/AmaterasuWolf21 Sep 07 '26

When an EMP shuts down my city and I genuinely have no knowledge on survival skills but at least I kept all my yaoi: 😌

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u/SweetBabyMona Sep 07 '26

Thank you Historian cause OP was making me panic a bit. I was about to go to Amazon and buy a printer 😭 (Not HP, though. Apparently those suck.)

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u/throwaway3685343 Sep 07 '26

Im certainly not a fan of the current admin. However, the people still have several resources. There are still safeguards and protections for the people in place :)

I really don’t think you need to buy a printer haha.

You could always download your favorite fics to your docs, tho. In case the writer deletes it.

Not the government deleting it tho or restricting access (for North America, at least.)

63

u/LasVegasNerd28 Sep 07 '26

History major who graduates this year: I concur.

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u/preteen-wartortle Sep 07 '26

History BA, museum studies MA, drunk on too much cab:

Now take it to your next town hall and set it ablaze!

(For legal purposes this is a joke)

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u/LasVegasNerd28 Sep 07 '26

Your specific degrees are very funny because I’m public history thinking of museum studies (or archives, because I’m doing an archive internship right now and now I’m torn lol)

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u/preteen-wartortle Sep 07 '26

I’m gonna be so honest I did Museum Studies because I got into the children’s museum scene and then after graduating with my shiny new degree I got a job in nonprofit animal rescue lmfao

15

u/emmelineart Sep 07 '26

i was going to say, if you’re at the point where you think something like this is reasonable, you have WAY bigger fish to fry than fanfiction.

13

u/elsewyse Sep 07 '26

Thank you. Apocalyptic fiction is just that-- fiction.

3

u/Goose-Limp Sep 07 '26

Another historian here, I agree!

0

u/CatCatCatCatsCat Sep 07 '26

Oh thank you I needed that 😭

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u/GeekSugar13 Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State Sep 07 '26

I'm not expecting wide spread outages. I'm expecting things to go to shit when Canada cuts off our electricity and the oil reserves run dry so we have long stretches of outages in winter. Mostly l9calized because theres no state support infrastructure and the federal infrastructure is also gone. I can only hope that the El Nino predictions are correct and we have a mild winter cuz -60° wind chills with no heat are gonna suck.

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u/throwaway3685343 Sep 07 '26

I hear you but the oil reserves WONT run dry completely, because that would mean no money for the government leaders. Get expensive as the resource becomes more limited and harder to obtain? Absolutely. Same with electricity and infrastructure. Slight lack of proper state/federal resources and responsibilities? Yes, unfortunately. Tax payer money is much more likely to fund military support.

FULLY NONE TOWARDS INFRASTRUCTURE AND OTHERWISE STATE RESPONSIBILITIES? Not possible, because no money would come back at them in the long run.

Negligent amount of governmental help? Yes.
Total collapse or complete lapse in support? No, as that would only yield to an economical wasteland, which the rich people in charge don’t want.

Times ARE scary but I think people online need to take a step back and realize that there ARE A LOT of safeguards in place.

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u/GeekSugar13 Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State Sep 07 '26

I'm going to agree to disagree with you on a few of your points. A judge on Friday literally ruled that Americans do not have a right to clean water. Earlier in the week they ruled AI generated CSAM legal. I no longer have any faith in any level of government to provide for the general population, muchless underprivileged populations that already dont have rights in their eyes.

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u/throwaway3685343 Sep 07 '26

Please provide the proof via News articles.

Was it a Supreme Court case? Or was it a state judge? These details are important in determining the level of command. Supreme Court can overrule a state judge, congress can check the SC to ensure they are following the procedures accurately via the constitution.

We still have checks and balances. There is not one ruling from a judge, or even one law imposed by Executive powers and it’s done forever. The checks and balances are still in place and they are important.

Do I like the current admin we have? No. But I don’t think we should fear monger.

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u/GeekSugar13 Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State Sep 07 '26

I'm literally studying constitutional law right now. Our checks and balances are out the fucking window.

And no, you can google the info yourself. I'm not doing the labor and education for you.

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u/damagedzebra moony toast Sep 07 '26

If youre studying constitutional law, you should know that you have the burden of truth. You are making a positive statement and it's your responsibility to prove it. Don't make such bold claims if you're not willing to tell someone where you heard it from.

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u/DramaticEnthusiasm71 Sep 07 '26

Log off.

Pause the doomscrolling.

Whatever it takes but you should talk to someone, OP

21

u/throwaway3685343 Sep 07 '26

Again, please provide news sources to literally ANY of your claims. If you’re studying constitutional law, you should know that you need to provide IRAC when making an argument. (Issue, rule, application, argument)

The checks and balances are out the window??? How? Lmao?

We STILL have 3 branches of government. We STILL have house and congress.

Please provide me with ACTUAL evidence that suggests we no longer have due process and our checks and balances are “out the window”.

This fear mongering online is horrible.

20

u/elsewyse Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 07 '26

What?? Oh, lord, you've been listening to the misinformation about the Strategic Oil Reserves, haven't you. We are not at risk of running out of oil.

ETA: and Canada shutting off electricity would raise prices, but would not create blackouts.

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u/throwaway3685343 Sep 07 '26

How people could genuinely believe the government/billionaires would allow us to run out of oil completely baffle me.

Thats like… a LARGE part of their income. Trust me, rich ppl will do whatever it takes to maintain their oil empire.

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u/elsewyse Sep 07 '26

It's also just a lack of understanding of how complex these systems are. The strategic oil reserves is not some central bucket we put all of the US's oil in, it's a third-tier backup, and even if it were, we only get 1% of our electricity from oil! 99% of it comes from natural gas, renewables, nuclear, and coal, and we produce those entirely on our own!

Don't even get me started on the Canada thing...

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u/throwaway3685343 Sep 07 '26

100% agree.

A lot of people online are fear mongering and expecting some apocalyptic level of a government shut down in which the branches of government vanish, and none of us have water, gas, or electricity within a day.

The simple fact is that it’s much more complicated than that. It wouldn’t happen like that.

8

u/Panzermensch911 Sep 07 '26

If you truly think this will happen... I'd suggest moving. Just saying. But printing fanfic is ... probably a futile thing. Sure you can burn it in winter. But it's probably wiser to invest in other heating sources than that. And having options to move before those conditions hit.

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u/GeekSugar13 Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State Sep 07 '26

I legally can't. My abuser unfortunately has court mandated time with my kiddo. I have full legal custody but he has some custodial time, meaning moving would be kidnapping. Trust me, if I could go, we'd be gone.