Satsuma @Satsuma@cat.family

@celli@octodon.social omg what a hero! enjoy your writing then :D

@celli@octodon.social do you have any tweetfic/meta/etc you’ve been meaning to import but haven’t gotten around to?

besides that hmmmm first kiss drabble fics are fun, and guaranteed to be short

@tempest https://reasonstobecheerful.world maybe?

@Lady i have six, apparently (though there are a few more from people who’ve promoed the campaign, so presumably either will be having their titles changed soon or are exceptions for whatever reason)

@admin welcome back!

@Lady @Forestofglory primarily i think it being a monopoly is one of the causes of fandom-at-larges destructuralization and not of its own internal lack of organization

However you could argue that it’s internal disorganization is what lead to the org falling short of some of its initial goals—like creating and easily self-hostable archive software—which did eventually contribute to its monopoly status

@Forestofglory @Lady I have definitely started thinking of Ao3 as essentially exerting monopolistic forces on fandom, not necessarily intentionally but effect matters more than intent

@Lady @Forestofglory i think fandom and the OTW are different kinds (?) of disorganized tho i do agree that fandoms disorganization has facilitated the OTWs somewhat

@shonalika yay more storage!!!

The popular meta-podcast on fandom Fansplaining, did a double episode on race featuring a wide variety of fans back in 2016--I haven't re-listened to hear how they held up but I remember thinking they provided a solid overview of the discussion at the time (particularly if you click through the links in the show notes):

https://www.fansplaining.com/episodes/22a-race-and-fandom

https://www.fansplaining.com/episodes/22b-race-and-fandom

They followed it up with two more episodes in 2020:
https://www.fansplaining.com/episodes/135a-race-and-fandom-revisited-part-1

https://www.fansplaining.com/episodes/135b-race-and-fandom-revisited-part-2

Some more ad-hoc history links for anyone playing catchup:

coffeeandink wrote a parody article skewering fandoms's attempts to avoid taking accountability for racism back in 2006. Point number 1? "Control what your audience sees." So, when the OTW refuses to take any public stances on race & racism, it's playing into tactics that have been called out since before the archive was even founded

https://web.archive.org/web/20060719223818/http://coffeeandink.livejournal.com/607897.html

Originally posted for Festivids 2022, eruthros celebrates the 1995-1996 Women's USA Basketball Team, who's campaign for recognition helped spur the creation of the WNBA in 1996. They stuck with it through misogyny, racism, and homophobia, working fulltime as both athletes and activists. As the WNBA's profile continues to rise, it seems fitting to take a few minutes to remember the women who worked so hard to make it happen:

End Racism in the OTW | Vid: Tightrope (384 words) by eruthros
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 1995 - 1996 Women's USA Basketball Team,
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Jennifer Azzi, Ruthie Bolton, Teresa Edwards, Lisa Leslie, Rebecca Lobo, Katrina McClain, Nikki McCray, Carla McGhee, Dawn Staley, Katy Steding, Sheryl Swoopes, Venus Lacey, Tara VanDerveer
Subtitles: yes!
Summary:

you gotta tip on the tightrope (tip, tip on it)

Curious about the title of this fanwork? Read more here!

Three years ago, the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) - the parent organization for AO3 - committed to acting on harassment and racist abuse that can currently happen through the site, including things like including using racial slurs against commenters, posting racist “spitefic” deliberately written to hurt and silence fans of color, naming critics of their fanworks in the tags of their fic to incite others to harass them, and more.

Join us in holding the OTW to their commitment and demanding change that will help keep all of us safer! Read more in our Call to Action, where you can find detailed information on the problem, what we’re demanding from the OTW, and how you can signal boost and get involved.

Has anyone made a #EndOTWRacism recs thread? What are y'all reading/watching/posting

@hoppet yr

Samuel R. Delany was writing eloquently on the subject of racism in fandom and the need to actively combat it in 1998 ( https://www.nyrsf.com/racism-and-science-fiction-.html ), nearly a decade before the OTW was even conceived of.

Racefail happened in 2009, when Ao3 was still a baby archive.

The OTW admitted they were failing fans of color and committed to making changes in 2020

Why are they still afraid of talking about anti-racism publicly now, in 2023 when we've been talking about the relationship between racism and fandom for, at absolute minimum, a quarter of a century? These are not brand new ideas

I've already boosted some far more eloquent posts by others, but I finally managed to put some thoughts down on #EndOTWRacism and how the OTW seems to have made a habit of dodging accountability by refusing to make any sort of public comment on controversial issues: https://satsuma.dreamwidth.org/25796.html

The short version is I'm in favor of the campaign and encourage anyone who uses the OTW's services (namely, fanlore and Ao3) to take part.

Or, skip my perspective and go straight to the campaign's own call to action: https://end-otw-racism.tumblr.com/post/716978822501875712/fandom-against-racism-a-manifesto

@cyberia@octodon.social some of it really depends where you’re going

if you know how you’re planning to get around (public transport, local friends car, taxis, etc) I would double check what you need for that in advance so you don’t have to risk getting stranded — for example SEPTA (Philadelphian public transport) is cash or you have to buy a physical transport card, while for NYC you can just pay directly with any contactless credit/debit card