2010 Fan/Portrait art by Ashley A. Woods

 Black Gamer Girls + Work Exploitation

In 2010, I met Ashley, a black comic book artist, at a local anime convention. She was tall, with a short haircut and was in a cosplay of one of her own original characters. She was bright, nerdy and bubbly, and we clicked instantly. 

2010 Vintage Lisha fan art/portrait -Ashley Woods (Millenia Wars, Tomb Raider, Niobe,&more)

I introduced her to my gyaru acquaintances/associates and gyaru circle partner La, and she would attend me & La’s gyaru events in Chicago & game with me too. She had a lot of games that I was familiar with, as well as some that I wasn't. It felt like having a cool older sister. She really liked how fearless I was with my style, and I admired her laidback gamergirl vibe and our mutual interest in Japanese culture and anime. 

Ashley had (re)introduced me to a different black woman, who became a former mutual of ours because of our shared interests in gaming.  I thought it would be the best thing ever as I wanted to be more social anyway, and get back into my *social* gaming interests post Gaiaonline days (2005-2006).

Lost footage of an interview of Ashley and Lisha 2012

Plus, I would be hanging out with black women than just guys from high school! Ashley and this other woman were a little older, but I thought that this could be good for me. Our mutual was always TENSE and talked about stuff that wasn’t necessarily about games, and me thinking I could make people happy, thought nothing of it. After all, Ashley was cool with her, and thought nothing of these convos, so I dismissed them. People have bad days sometimes… they’ll get over it. After all, I wasn't arguing with her, and would be mostly quiet around her so she wouldn't have a reason to be angry with me anymore. (ps... never worked). At least Ashley was calm, cool and funny, and always made the atmosphere brighter.

Ashley Woods, Lisha and Ashley's friend 2010ish

After multiple anime and gaming conventions, my (and La's) gyaru events, we hung out as well.  She'd gave THEE best recommendations for anime series,movies, music, and it was like walking into a mini anime store when I'd visit her! One of those recommendations I'll share with you are the animes Paprika and Perfect Blue, as well as the movie Mimic. You can thank her for those suggestions if you get a chance to watch them! While she shared her faves out of her anime collection, I shared my gyaru tips with her, Our time together wasn't just partying, games and anime, she also had professional artist experience as well. I can still recall getting artist tips to save time or her input about digital and traditional inking. 

Ashley and Lisha

In 2012-2013, things started to get more serious in my personal life, and Ashley was one of the few people that reached out to me and did not make my grieving and her presence into a social media pr stunt to bolster her empathy online.  During this time, I would later learn of an issue with her and the mutual she introduced me to. Ashley would give me the best advice that I took far too late because I didn't fully understand the complexity of what I had allowed in my life, and what used Ashley to gain access to me in a more socially acceptable way. I was young to the entrepreneur life, let alone figuring out Youtube and making more interesting videos for you guys and gals. 

Ashley A. Woods and Lisha at c2e2

That owner wanted me to be against Ashley and dog her out by using her assistant to talk crap about why Ashley. I was invited to some events, and even told I was a great artist (possibly comparing me to Ashley). It was two against one, and I was the middlegyaru. Then, Ashley told me why she left the group.... The owner of the gaming group kept compensation and didn’t pay Ashley. When I was informed about that, I couldn’t believe it! I was flabbergasted, felt stuck, and wanted those two to be friends again. This was all just a misunderstanding, right? The situation between them could work out, right? The bashing of her stopped from the other two. I thought I would be in the clear as I was only doing press work for that group anyway. 

Ashley (then later on Monica of Geeks A GoGo) would soon tell me something important for my career success. That advice? To leave a girl gaming group before they could financially ruin me or just exploit my labor for their financial gain like they did her. She didn't want another creative to get exploited. 

This was one of the best business tips I received, as she was right. Thinking you can work alongside someone who sees everyone as an opp or opportunity and who doesn't care to compensate you is not going to work out in your favor. You can't get someone to like you when they want to see everything wrong with you, and only wants to drain you of so much so they can be compensated and take credit while leaving you struggling and calling it empowerment. 

Thank you for reading and check out her work online! Ashley A. Woods.