My Thoughts on Yaoi/the OTW

Firstly, I have to admit that yes, I did volunteer for the OTW. My reason for doing so was neither my belief that what they do is the best thing that ever happened to fandom, but rather my realisation that it was time to stop whining and do something. I have been in online fandom for almost five years now. But really, I drew fanart long before that. It all started when I googled for news on the fifth Harry Potter book and I ended up reading a fic about Harry and Draco having sex. I was appalled at first. But still, I could not wait for the next book, and so I looked for other, less slashy stories. I was hooked, and I stayed. During these five years, I witnessed a few skirmishes with TPTB, and neither of them ended in favour of the fannish side. The fans whined about it and migrated elsewhere. This flexibility is one of the things I admire fandom for, but my admiration never stopped me from wishing there would be no more migration, that we would all live happily ever after in our own perfect place. And that, in essence, is what the OTW offers. That does not mean that I agree with all their ideas, but I realised that I did not improve things by quietly whining in my own little corner of fandom, but that I have to work with them to make sure they take the direction I want them to. I have seen a lot of people criticising them, but only a few of them made an effort to talk to them.

( Cut for tl;dr )

I know that I did not touch upon a lot of the criticism I read, but these are the most common points, I think. I apologise for the sheer length of my ramblings and the mistakes I likely made.

doro_chan