My $0.02 on the LJ Strikeout-gate and on the comm http://community.livejournal.com/innocence_jihad/

On strikeout 07: First off… as someone who writes fiction and fanfiction I’m angry over the deletion of fan fic communities last week. To lump them in with pedophiles, killers, etc was knee jerk and ridiculous. It was also done when LJ’s main man was away on vacation by the CEO. Granted, I don’t know exactly what prompted this knee jerk OMFG must delete comms and Journals based on “user interests” not content but it was done poorly, with no warning and no real sense of we’re protecting anyone but ourselves.

I don’t know what Warriors for Innocence are, or what they (it) hope to accomplish by lashing out at the internet randomly either. I went to the blog, but I refuse to link to it as a.) I think that bitch is a total racist white supremicist, conservative xtian nutball of the highest order and b.) the site may give you (or me spywares)  What little bit I did read made me want to punch the blogger through my screen as she/he is doing nothing but making themselves look crazy and has only succeeded in a relatively random, and rather unneccesary strike against what they see as incest, porn, etc.

I happily say that I reported a pedo’s LJ a while back after he posted to a comm I belong to (his user icon triggered me to make sure I wasn’t just over reacting and he really was a sick fuck). Luckily LJ took action and that was that. That happened because of the users content, not merely interests… as it was said some people put down all kinds of shit as user interests for shock value, not because they truy enjoy or are involved in such illegal activities as incest, pedophilia, etc.  So next time LJ, please use some common sense, not do a knee jerk delete then ooops, sorry! Users ,especially those of us paying to use this thing called an LJ don’t like such things being done to us.

And now for the misuse of the word  Jihad  by everyone in the <a href=”http:// http://community.livejournal.com/innocence_jihad/”>innocence_jihad community</a>: Now while I can certainly understand the sentiment behind declaring war on this WFI group, couldn’t you all have picked a better name? Couldn’t they have used something other than “Jihad” If not at least something like  <i>Jihad_on_WFI</i>? As the comm name stands now, it reads as if they are declaring war on innocence overall, not merely this group called WFI. I don’t particularly care for the word “Jihad” as it is the word of those who attacked us and that of those I consider an enemy to the US.  it is not a word to toss around lightly, nor is it something I think anyone with any kind of sense would use here in the US for a fight against a right wing nutjob who hates slash fanfic.

I took a peek at the comm, and its not even living up to its name. Nothing recently posted in there is about fighting the WFI group… its merely becoming another webspace for debating slash fanfic, a few personal rants, and flounce from LJ declarations. Something people really should understand before they go off on any crusades to stop the MAN  from impeding their free speech rights.

Understand the following: Six Apart is a for profit company, and as such they are only interested in the bottom line at the end of the day. The only way they would be affected by user protest is for mass amounts of people to leave LJ instead of renewing their paid subscriptions, for people to not use the ad supported accounts, thereby reducing the revenue they earn.  They will not truly feel an impact with a couple hundred people flouncing off to other blogging sites especially if you have already paid up for 3 months to a year in advance.

For those folks who want to leave LJ, I support you but keep in mind unless a few thousand go with you, Six Apart will continue to make dumb ass mistakes, and as long as we consumers keep paying for the privilege to use their webspace we are getting what we pay for, which is very little in their p.o.v.

Now I’m getting off my soap box and back to writing slash porn.

Published by cypheroftyr

Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers, attendance at the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make the industry better and more inclusive for everyone. She’s part of the Rivals of Waterdeep actual play stream on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep, a partnered Twitch variety broadcaster; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics online, at conventions and as a public speaker.. She’s also contributed to publications at Green Ronin, Paizo and Monte Cook Games and is the co-developer for the Fifth Season RPG based on N.K. Jemisin’s three time Hugo award winning Broken Earth trilogy. She’s the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a Twitch supported RPG and Actual Play stream, airing weekly on her channel, twitch.tv/cypheroftyr. Additionally, she is a Senior Annenberg labs Civic Media Fellow at USC. She’s also the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a new sci fi afro-futurist RPG developed with a team of all POC and Black creators; live streamed on her twitch channel, /cypheroftyr. She’s named as one of The Game Awards Future Class 2020, a diverse group of builders, thinkers and dreamers whose voices elevate and diversify our artform. It recognizes individuals around the world who represent the bright, bold and inclusive future for video games. She was also named as one of Gamers of the Year 2020 by Kotaku along with three of her contemporaries. She was also invited to the Xbox MVP program in February 2021. Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021. Tanya is the programming & diversity coordinator for OrcaCon and GaymerX. She also serves on the Board of Directors for OrcaCon and was named the Chair for Take This in January 2023. She often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. Her writing about games and games critique appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Wiscon Chronicles, Vice Gaming, Paste Games, Mic, and other publications. She’s the editor of Game Devs and Others: Tales from the Margins (2018, CRC Press) and contributed to The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox. (2019, CRC Press) Writer Bio for pubs: Tanya is the Founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago. She’s part of Rivals of Waterdeep, an actual play D&D show on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep; the programming coordinator for OrcaCon & GaymerX; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. She’s on the Board of Take This as well as a Stream Ambassador, and was part of the inaugural cohort of The Game Awards Future Class. Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021.