Some Basic Facts

             Now that we have the air cleared, let's get some basic facts out there, as the internet rumor mill, led by demagogues like Razorfist, Arch, and all other forms of alt-right trash have whipped the community into a frenzy with exaggerations and misinformation. Let's cut through that shit, shall we?

1: "Faith is a convicted stalker". WRONG. I have never stalked anyone, and I have certainly never been convicted before a court or any judge of stalking Mr. Pardoe. I have never been convicted of doing anything to Mr. Pardoe. The only legal interaction I have with regards to Mr. Pardoe are a mutually agreed upon temporary protective order in the state of Virginia, entered into for the purpose of stopping Mr. Pardoe from using his considerable wealth and clout to abuse the legal system as a club to pound me into financial ruin. That is all.

2: "Faith stalked Mr. Pardoe for years!": FALSE. I have feuded with Mr. Pardoe since the time that his response to my asking him a question was "You're just a shitty fanfic writer". The extent of this feud has been to publicly call him out on his vile right wing views. This only ever took the form of publications on my personal twitter account and blog, comments on the public comments section of Mr. Pardoe's blog, and via the e-mail address listed as contact information on Mr. Pardoe's own website. None of this was stalking, none of this was secretive, and none of it was violent. The extent of the "violence" is the use of a hashtag #diemadaboutit, which anyone with a cursory ability to use Google is the catch phrase of the anti-confederate Sons of Liberty. I linked their videos to him on his public comment section of his public blog. I will link them here for you. Tell me if you think this is a "threat" or if Mr. Pardoe is just a whiney ass conservative bitch looking to sell books by grifting off the pockets of the conservative MAGA wave of Trumptards freely separating themselves from their coin. 

Sons of Liberty Youtube

3: "Faith threatened Mr. Pardoe's life" Again, FALSE. I have linked you to some of the videos I linked to him already and explained the hashtag, but Blaine seems to be hung up on these two quotes about shooting him in the crotch and wanting him to die in a fire, so lets explain those. I was having a private discussion with Mr. Craig Reed Jr. I now realize this man to be a snake, but at the time, I trusted him as a friend and he was a mentor to me in the writing community. One night he and I were discussing Blaine's new conservative masturbatory fanfiction novel that was coming out. I had a glass or two of scotch, and in passing, I said to Craig "This is Turner Diaries kind of stuff. It makes me want to just shoot him in the fucking crotch. I hope he dies in a fire." That's it. That's the extent of the "threats". These words were not threats, and they were communicated in private to someone other than Mr. Pardoe. There was never even any intention to threaten. But Mr. Reed decided that he needed to share my conversation with Blaine. And when he did that, Blaine, if we are to believe him, was so fearful for his life that he instituted action plans fearing that I was going to come after him. This is absurd. I cannot be responsible for Blaine's paranoia. 

            After this, he hired a private detective to try to discern my identity in hopes of smearing me or some such. This took the form of investigators talking to my place of employment, contacting law enforcement in my area, digging through County records to try to find dirt, looking at my financial records and all other forms of spying on me because he knew he needed to smear me. Let me be clear. My private life is private. It is none of his business and none of yours. He used this against me in an attempt to weaponize my private life for his own personal narrative because he knew that his vile views and online antics were going to catch up with him. He needed a scapegoat, and he hired a private dick to make me into one. I admit my own fault in not seeing it coming and walking into his trap. He played the game well. 

            No more. I am not playing that game anymore. I am being true to myself, my values, and my place in this community. If you don't like it, you can fuck off. I hope that you will stay with me for the journey. We are going to stand up and be bigger than Blaine, bigger than Tazorface or any of those haters.

            I am Faith McClosky, and I'm a shitty fanfic writer. Get over it. Don't like it? Leave. But don't think that you or anyone else holds a sword over me anymore. This is over. I am myself, and I will continue to be. I hope you'll all accept me for that.

Changes

             This drama has been too much. It is taking too great a strain on my mental and even my physical health. Thing's have to change. I have to change. I will be making changes to my online presence to better integrate with my emotional wellbeing. This will mean I'm pulling back in some areas. It has to happen, for myself and for the people around me. Some of it is on the advice of my mental health team. Some of it is on the advice of my attorney.

            It doesn't mean that I'm quitting the community or going offline or any of that, it just means that I'm redirecting the parts of me that I share. You may see this as becoming more private, but it isn't. It's compartmentalizing my life and putting priorities where they need to be. I'll share with you what I need to, and stop sharing that which I don't.

            It will be giving you all the best of me, while keeping the rest of me tucked away. You will still have your Faith, just a leaner, better version of myself. It will let you have all of my strengths, while allowing me to protect my weaknesses. 

            I will stop being a pawn to be played with, sacrificed, and then forgotten. I will control who I am, not let people dictate what I need to be. I will control the narrative, not be lead through someone else's story.

            I hope that you all will continue on this journey with me. To make a better me. A better community. To just make things better. 

A Plea to the Battletech Community

             This has to stop. It all has to stop. Yesterday I came to you all with a statement regarding events. Now I am coming to you, the community, with a plea. Please stop tearing yourselves, each other, and the community apart.

            Battletech is a game that we are all passionate about, but at the end of the day it is A GAME. These people that you are talking about like characters, Me, Blaine, TEX, George Ledoux, people at Catalyst...we are all PEOPLE. There is a human being behind every name and screen that you are talking to. This is not a game to be played. We are not characters. This is not some internet experiment. This is people's LIFE. Take a step back and think about that. This is people's life. We are not pawns for your amusement to be thrown around the board for excitement and to be tossed away at a whim. We are people. We have lives.

            The past week has seen me receive threats, has seen people like TEX receive demands that they take a stand for one side or the other, has seen hard working people at Catalyst have their livelihoods threatened. This is insanity. We are not your puppets. We are not your pawns. We are not your toys. We are people. I have had my children brought into this. Two innocent little babies, ten months old, talked about as if they are character stats on a page. It has to stop. 

            I do not owe you whatever explanation or proof will make you think I am "real" or conform to the character that you have designed in your head for me. I have come to you and presented myself authentically. I am Faith McClosky. If you cannot accept that and who I am, then go fuck off. TEX does not owe you his opinion or his sword to your cause in this fight. He is a person that has done some damn amazing stuff for the world around him and this community and he deserves the right to handle this situation however the fuck he wants to. If you don't like that, you can fuck off.

            The toxicity and abuse that has come out of this community in the wake of Blaine's shameful pity party has been insane, and it has to stop. I publicly implore him to stop pouring gasoline on this fire just to fuel his own career. But more than that, I implore you all to stop throwing the rest of us into that fire and gleefully watching as we combust for your amusement and catharsis. A grown ass man lost a contract and he is setting you all up to tear the community apart with pitchforks and flames to fuel his sense of ego. It has to stop. We are people. We are not your toys. Please treat us like people. Treat us like the person across from you at the gaming table, not some character a thousand miles away behind a screen. We are people. Treat us as such. That's all we ask. We just all want to be a part of this community, of this great game. We just want to be treated as people. 

Statement Regarding Current Events

             The past several days have seen a whirlwind of events unfold. There have been many accusations and misinformation spread everywhere. This statement is meant to clarify the situation and attempt to peacefully lower the temperature of the current debate.

            As has been stated by Catalyst Game Labs, their decisions regarding future contracts with a certain author is their own and has been made entirely on consultation with their license holder. I have had no part in the decision making process, nor have I had any influence on these decisions.

            Furthermore, there has never been any conspiracy to "cancel" any author in the Battletech universe. Any accusations to the contrary are false. I have individually made my opinions known to various parties regarding this author's content, both publicly and privately. That is the extent to which any interaction has occurred. 

            Regarding specific allegations that have been made:

            I was not "offered" the chance to publish any short story as any kind of inducement to anything. The publication of my story, Roadblock, followed the normal submission and editorial process. Any statements to the contrary are false.

            I have never colluded with Mr. Herbert Beas, or any other person, in regards to "cancelling" another author. I have never had any communications with Mr. Beas for the purposes of furthering such a goal, nor has he played any part to my knowledge in this unfolding drama.

            Regarding the legal agreement entered into between myself and Mr. Pardoe, the agreement pertained only to the granting of a temporary protection order in exchange for his agreeing to forgo any legal action regarding defamation. There was specifically no admission of any threat by any party, nor any conditions moving forward that I remain silent regarding Mr. Pardoe's views and activities. 

            I have never been charged or convicted of any crime in relation to Mr. Pardoe. No judge or jury has ever heard a complaint by either party regarding this matter. No court has ruled on this matter beyond the above mentioned legal agreement between the parties.

            I support many platforms and content creators in the Battletech community. My financial support for them should in no way be construed as their endorsement of myself or any actions regarding this case. I support them for their content, and their content alone. I have received reports of threats of violence against parties that I support financially in the Battletech community. Let me state clearly, this is wrong. Any threats of violence are wrong, especially those made against third parties who are not connected in any way to this drama. Any and all threats of violence will be handled by Law Enforcement and my attorney.

            There has been talk that I have advocated for the removal of Mr. Pardoe's work from the Battletech canon. This is false. I in no way support removing anything that has been published, and I encourage people to continue to support Catalyst Game Labs by purchasing their past and future content.

            This entire ordeal has been stressful and ugly beyond belief, and has placed an incredible strain on myself and my family. I would like to thank my family for their support in this matter. I would further like to thank everyone in the community who has offered their support and listened to reason. For every bad actor in this situation, there have been five good ones, and it has raised my faith in the community as a whole overall.  The Battletech community is a great one. Do not let it be torn apart by the actions of one man. Support each other, support Catalyst Game Labs, have fun, and roll the dice!