2020 OTW Board Voting Now Open!

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2020-08-14 02:51:13 UTC

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Elections News - Cast Your Vote!

The election has opened!

Every OTW member who joined between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020, should have a ballot by now. If you didn't get one, please check your spam folder first, then contact us via our contact form.

The election will run through August 17, 2020, 23:59 UTC; check this time zone converter to find out what time that will be for you.

Once you’ve voted, you can head over to Twitter and use the hashtag #otw2020 to meet and chat with other voters! We’d love to hear from you!

The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

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maitimiel Fri 14 Aug 2020 03:02AM UTC

Good luck to everyone running, and thank you ~~for your sacrifice~~! *\o/*

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Qem Fri 14 Aug 2020 05:31AM UTC

\o/ I voted! Thank you to our elections team for organising and to everyone who is running!

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kamsangi Fri 14 Aug 2020 12:46PM UTC

Got my vote in! Thank you Elections & candidates for all the hard work!

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Nightworldlove Fri 14 Aug 2020 02:07PM UTC

Voted this morning, good luck to all!

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catflowers Fri 14 Aug 2020 10:38PM UTC

Awesome!

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JKFic Sat 15 Aug 2020 07:06PM UTC

I voted too.

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Kushal prajapti (Guest) Sun 16 Aug 2020 09:50AM UTC

Very bad

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1. (Previous comment deleted.)
2. 1. a nonblack POC (Guest) Sun 16 Aug 2020 11:46PM UTC
    
    This is a vicious, racist comment that ignores the fact that anti-blackness and racism is everywhere. It's in Asia. It's in South America. It's in Europe. YES, it's even in whatever utopia you pretend to live in. IT. IS. EVERYWHERE. The racism Black fans are experiencing is more than just an American experience and issue, and I'm sick to death of people downplaying it to pretend that it's Americans ruining the archive when ALL of this could have been avoided if the people who built this archive had at any time in the last decade taken their heads out of the sand when POCs said racists were driving them off the site with racist comments, abusive and deliberate non-tagging, and shitty gaslighting of POCs who dared to speak up.
    It's clear you don't give one solitary flying fig about Black people, racism, or action. A statement does absolutely nothing unless backed by action. When people in the comments to these news posts pretend they DO care about racism, it's just they care about censorship more, people like YOU show what a farce that position is. When OTW throws up its hands and pretends anti-racism is too hard, slimeballs like you get free rein of this website. And that's the fucking TEA.
    
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      2. a nonblack POC (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:36AM UTC
        
        Fer is exactly the kind of person who feels empowered when OTW does nothing about racism for 10+ years. How do you think POC creators feel knowing these kinds of jackasses celebrate when POCs experience racism?
        It's like some of the people on this site think there are well-meaning creative geniuses who just accidentally do a racism or a misogyny. It isn't. It's malicious. It celebrates any time we experience harassment. They derail and use whataboutism on behalf of groups they don't care about in order to harass groups they REALLY don't care about, to the point of irrational hatred.
        "The whole BLM movement fucking sucks"? Are any of the people on AO3 who are just so sorry about racism but can't excuse censorship going to collect these people, or are POCs going to have to do the heavy lifting here?
        Stop your Victimhood's post was racist because it reduced racism to whining and erased Black people and anti-Blackness all over the planet in order to shut up (literally, the phrase they used) Black Americans. That's why it's racist. Now you know and you can go back under your bridge.
        
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  4. 1. The_Horrible_Person Mon 17 Aug 2020 03:23AM UTC
      
      Thats one of the most offensive and cruel statements I've read on this site, fer was only sticking up for me, no need to be a asshole.
      Secondly know that if you want to shove blm down people's throats on a fucking fan fiction website, know that it doesn't make a difference, it just makes people hate the movement.
      And thirdly fuck you for the underage comment, I was molested as a child, and I won't have you wildly accusing someone of something so serious.
      
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The_Horrible_Person Mon 17 Aug 2020 03:27AM UTC

If your here to talk about racism please stop, shoving it down people's throats will make them hate the movements, I support black lives matters until I can't escape it and every one is calling each other racist.
We go to this site to share our creativity, and our pride of the things we write, so please do not insult each other. It's getting tiring and honestly I just want to be able to enjoy this without the drama

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1. Please (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 03:39AM UTC
  
  You can; close this page, and don't respond to things that you don't feel support your goal of enjoying this site. People can talk about BLM here as surely as they can talk about it anywhere else. Why on earth would anyone who supports racial justice stop supporting it because they heard someone else talking about it? Just go read some fanfiction and stop giving people your unsolicited opinions on racism, if reading fanfiction is what you came here to do.
  
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2. 1. Hello, this is your self-awareness speaking (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 06:23AM UTC
    
    So? Exactly the same is true for the smoothbrains who whine about "racism" (which they somehow are never able to provide a single fucking receipt for) on this site. My God, the fucking irony, the staggering lack of self-awareness in that statement. We ARE here to enjoy fanfiction--you harpies screeching for censorship, "giving your unsolicited opinions on racism", on every fucking unrelated post are the ones who so obviously aren't.
    "close this page, and don't respond to things that you don't feel support your goal of enjoying this site."
    Thank you, from now on this will be my response to every snowflake raving about "racist" fanfiction (the very idea of which is laughable to anyone who has a half an IQ point). That *should* have been the response from AO3 at the very beginning. Then all this toxicity (which I exactly predicted would ensue if they caved to extremist pressure and made their shitty "statement") could have been avoided. But nope. You, who evidently lead lives of such unbelievable privilege and idleness that made-up stories that do not adhere to your ideology on fanfiction sites are a real concern for you, just had to go and ruin it.
    It's words on a page bruh. You can close it and go do something else at any time. If you feel "harassed" it's because you choose to be. Other people are not responsible for your emotional fragility. We are not your therapists.
    
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  2. 1. Please (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:46PM UTC
      
      It’s truly fascinating that you assume that, because I suggest a teenager go read fanfiction instead of starting wank, I am “for censorship.”
      For the record, I have never suggested or supported any work being removed or “censored” from the archive. I would fight against that with everything I have. Fortunately I don’t need to, because there is a 0% chance of the AO3 removing fic from the site, and a 100% chance of there being racist trolls on this thread (see below; this entire conversation was literally started by someone arguing with themselves to stir up wank.) But it’s good to know just how little nuance this discussion can support.
      
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A note (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 03:57AM UTC

Just a note for anyone who might be reading this and deciding what to prioritize in this conversation: according to their profile, Chilly_chi_noodles is fifteen. Obviously it's important for teenagers to be held accountable for their words and actions-- being a teenager is all about learning that responsibility-- but in the context of the internet, it's worth keeping in mind that you will never, never have an argument with a teen that ends in them saying "you're right, I hadn't thought of that." It's just not the way the brain is wired at that age. So I hate to see people who have intelligent things to say in adult spaces tying themselves up in knots arguing with a teenager and trying to get to a place of "winning," and so much of that being wasted effort that is just causing a child to dig in their heels in an essentially childish way.
I don't know what the right balance is between repudiating ignorance and bigotry, and not wasting the time of people who are ready to have more productive conversations. I just thought I would leave this thought here in case it factors into anyone's decisions about how much of their energy this is worth.
On that note, the ability to freeze comment threads (like on dreamwidth) sure would be handy here.

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OTW_Elections (Official) Mon 17 Aug 2020 04:29AM UTC

Several OTW chairs reviewed the deleted thread three comments above this one for harassment and racism. On review, I discovered that the initial comment and the first harassing reply to it were from the same IP address, as were several other statements in the thread that purported to be from different people. We have removed all comments by that IP address as well as some racist comments about the BLM movement and some heated replies. We have left one anonymous commenter's statements, as they appear to be engaging in good faith.
If you are here to argue with anyone, please keep in mind that the entire argument back and forth was started by one person insulting and arguing with themselves.
briar_pipe
Elections Co-Chair hat on

Last Edited Mon 17 Aug 2020 04:52AM UTC

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1. tillwehavefaces Mon 17 Aug 2020 06:09AM UTC
  
  So I take the Archive's policy on free speech doesn't apply to comments? Or does "harassment" just mean disagreeing with someone now? If so, you should probably update your Terms of Service to make that clear.
  
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2. 1. OTW_Board (Official) Mon 17 Aug 2020 06:37AM UTC
    
    Thank you for the suggestion. Currently, news post comments may be deleted or marked as spam at the discretion of the team or teams responsible for the post. We are in the process of reviewing our Terms of Service as described in the recent Statement from the OTW Board of Directors, Chairs, & Leads, and we will take your feedback into consideration and look for possible ways to make this clearer.
    
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  2. Nope (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:32PM UTC
    
    Absolutely agreed. I have never seen the org post a comment like this in my six years on the website. I am afraid this may be turning the way of LiveJournal and FFN thanks to Tumblr hellions in the future. I feared this day would come.
    
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  3. 1. oh my god (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 05:34PM UTC
      
      I hope you're a troll, because I don't understand how anyone over the age of 12 could fail to see the difference between kinky fanfics you don't like VS sameanon wanking in the comments of a news post. And you have to be 13 to use this site.
      
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  4. Elf (Elf_Herself) Mon 17 Aug 2020 02:58PM UTC
    
    The author of a fanwork has the right to delete comments, whether or not they comply with the TOS.
    OTW staff has the right to delete comments on news posts the same way.
    They could just post news and not allow comments on them. They want fans to be able to discuss the decisions and changes, but that doesn't mean they're obligated to allow off-topic comments, especially vicious ones.
    They want to allow a wide range of opinions, including opinions that may offend some readers. They don't want to allow insults and attacks that are designed to hurt people - especially if they're phrased so that they only hurt the targets, and other people don't even notice the attack.
    It's very reasonable to say "if you want to have that type of conversation, have it in your own space." A comment doesn't have to be "harassment" to be deleted here, any more than it does on a fanfic.
    
    Last Edited Mon 17 Aug 2020 02:59PM UTC
    
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3. Nope (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:29PM UTC
  
  This isn’t okay. One minute the org is claiming to protect freedom of speech on the website, the next you’re deleting entire comments from people just because they have a disagreement with someone? English is my third language so forgive me if I misunderstand, but isn’t the purpose of this website to be an archive of creative works and allow for comments to be posted? I saw some of the replies up thread and they seemed heated but not inflammatory. There was one you deleted about Americans which made sense in the context of who they were replying to. Why censor that train of thought and not the 800 comments left on your last update? This website may be going the way of SJWs on Tumblr if you let this nonsense continue.
  
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4. 1. Clarification (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:50PM UTC
    
    They didn’t delete because of a “disagreement with someone”; they deleted what was an argument that one person started WITH THEMSELVES, arguing both sides in a way that was specifically designed to draw other people in and cause fights. That is not a creative work, and it’s not even people disagreeing: it’s one person abusing the anon feature for their own amusement.
    
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  2. moon_crater Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:52PM UTC
    
    They deleted comments from what are known as sock puppets: one person pretending to be many users with varying viewpoints. Operative word: pretending. It’s a tactic trolls use to stir up trouble.
    
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  3. AkaiMirage Mon 17 Aug 2020 06:54PM UTC
    
    Look, I saw those comments before they were deleted although i didn't know at the time it was the same person pretending to be different people to stir up problems/argues with the rest of the archive users, those comments were vicious. (and I'm very glad I stayed out of it, for that matter)
    And the OTW did the right thing to delete them. and I hope they're taking measures to prevent that IP adress from stirring up more shit.
    P.s, not an English speaker either.
    
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5. Thank You (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:54PM UTC
  
  Thank you. Reasonable comment moderation is not “censorship,” as anyone who existed in a functional moderated fan community pre-tumblr know. And “keep in mind that the entire argument back and forth was started by one person insulting and arguing with themselves” is a god lesson to keep in mind as a real possibility in any anon spaces.
  
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Solovei Mon 17 Aug 2020 05:41AM UTC

Just voted! Good luck to all those who ran :) Everyone put in so much work, congrats~~~

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maitimiel Fri 14 Aug 2020 03:02AM UTC

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Qem Fri 14 Aug 2020 05:31AM UTC

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kamsangi Fri 14 Aug 2020 12:46PM UTC

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Nightworldlove Fri 14 Aug 2020 02:07PM UTC

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catflowers Fri 14 Aug 2020 10:38PM UTC

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JKFic Sat 15 Aug 2020 07:06PM UTC

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Kushal prajapti (Guest) Sun 16 Aug 2020 09:50AM UTC

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a nonblack POC (Guest) Sun 16 Aug 2020 11:46PM UTC

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a nonblack POC (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:36AM UTC

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The_Horrible_Person Mon 17 Aug 2020 03:23AM UTC

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The_Horrible_Person Mon 17 Aug 2020 03:27AM UTC

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Please (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 03:39AM UTC

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Hello, this is your self-awareness speaking (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 06:23AM UTC

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Please (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:46PM UTC

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A note (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 03:57AM UTC

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OTW_Elections (Official) Mon 17 Aug 2020 04:29AM UTC

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tillwehavefaces Mon 17 Aug 2020 06:09AM UTC

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OTW_Board (Official) Mon 17 Aug 2020 06:37AM UTC

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Nope (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:32PM UTC

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oh my god (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 05:34PM UTC

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Elf (Elf_Herself) Mon 17 Aug 2020 02:58PM UTC

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Nope (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:29PM UTC

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Clarification (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:50PM UTC

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moon_crater Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:52PM UTC

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AkaiMirage Mon 17 Aug 2020 06:54PM UTC

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Thank You (Guest) Mon 17 Aug 2020 01:54PM UTC

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Solovei Mon 17 Aug 2020 05:41AM UTC

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