Yeah, I know 40k fans who are certainly anti-fascist, but I’m also acquainted with 40k fans who seem to be generally pro-authoritarian and sometimes it seems like their enthusiasm is the mask slipping. These are usually the ones who are obsessed with 40k and will routinely spend entire days talking about it if no one changes the subject.

The thing is that there aren’t a ton of franchises that lean so heavily into fascism. 40k and Helldivers are about it, and while we’re in a period where real life fascism is on the rise, it’s maybe not a great thing that these franchises are as popular as they are. If there were some sort of rebels to identify with in the setting that might at least improve the situation a bit, but there don’t really seem to be and I don’t really see any sign of 40k having any sort of actual criticism of the outlook they’re spending a lot of time and money presenting to the public. It’s just uncritical glorification at this point, and that’s really the last thing we should want people internalizing.