Jonaya Kemper
@violetriotgames.bsky.social
Assistant Teaching Professor of Playable and Participatory Media in Creative Technologies and Performance, Play & Design:Games @ UCSC. Award winning Game Designer/Artist. Afrofuturist. Opinions are my own.
jonayakemper.com
jonayakemper.com
I think a part of the reason I love going to historical events dressed in historical clothing despite the fact someone will pull a historical racism at me at least once is because my ancestors couldn't fight back, but I can. Anyway, I just finished all this braiding and making custom silk buttons.
November 18, 2025 at 6:18 PM
I think a part of the reason I love going to historical events dressed in historical clothing despite the fact someone will pull a historical racism at me at least once is because my ancestors couldn't fight back, but I can. Anyway, I just finished all this braiding and making custom silk buttons.
Last week I did some research in New Orleans on liminal play spaces. I got the chance to attend the Anne Rice Fan Club's annual ball; a childhood dream come true. For a ball that's not a larp, I sure did forget I wasn't an immortal coquette.
November 4, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Last week I did some research in New Orleans on liminal play spaces. I got the chance to attend the Anne Rice Fan Club's annual ball; a childhood dream come true. For a ball that's not a larp, I sure did forget I wasn't an immortal coquette.
Listen, the world is a mess. I have class to prep, several meetings, but please look at this Banana Slug. I am obsessed. I love them. They are everywhere.
September 30, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Listen, the world is a mess. I have class to prep, several meetings, but please look at this Banana Slug. I am obsessed. I love them. They are everywhere.
Did I pick up some contraband? Maaaybe. Was it the last issue available? Absolutely.
September 12, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Did I pick up some contraband? Maaaybe. Was it the last issue available? Absolutely.
As a designer this tells me that artistically I'm just going to ignore both D&D and CR as staple points for anything creative and focus on doing something that appeals as both text and a unique roleplaying experience. People want your weird little games far more than you think!
September 2, 2025 at 7:19 PM
As a designer this tells me that artistically I'm just going to ignore both D&D and CR as staple points for anything creative and focus on doing something that appeals as both text and a unique roleplaying experience. People want your weird little games far more than you think!
As an indie designer, I am always interested to see what titles get stocked the most. Thirsty Sword Lesbians is huge. But so is Lucian Kahn's work. Visigoths vs. Mallgoths, Dead Friend, etc. Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings and anything by Grant Howitt and Jay Dragon are staples as well.
September 2, 2025 at 7:19 PM
As an indie designer, I am always interested to see what titles get stocked the most. Thirsty Sword Lesbians is huge. But so is Lucian Kahn's work. Visigoths vs. Mallgoths, Dead Friend, etc. Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings and anything by Grant Howitt and Jay Dragon are staples as well.
Santa Cruz's varied board game shops really tell me a lot about what people outside our bubbles are doing in ttrpgs. I've visited a lot of board game shops around the country (rural and city) and Santa Cruz encapsulates all the things I've seen so far. Here are some of my observations.
September 2, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Santa Cruz's varied board game shops really tell me a lot about what people outside our bubbles are doing in ttrpgs. I've visited a lot of board game shops around the country (rural and city) and Santa Cruz encapsulates all the things I've seen so far. Here are some of my observations.
Apparently at 7:00 AM ICE rolled up to a Home Depot in a Penske moving van. If you have some free time, you should tell Penske how you feel about it. Script enclosed.
August 6, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Apparently at 7:00 AM ICE rolled up to a Home Depot in a Penske moving van. If you have some free time, you should tell Penske how you feel about it. Script enclosed.
YOU GET TO PULL SWORDS MADE OF POETRY OUT OF YOUR CHEST AND SWASHBUCKLE ON AIRSHIPS AND GO TO A LIL GAY CLUB AFTER. WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK OF ME?!
July 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
YOU GET TO PULL SWORDS MADE OF POETRY OUT OF YOUR CHEST AND SWASHBUCKLE ON AIRSHIPS AND GO TO A LIL GAY CLUB AFTER. WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK OF ME?!
My nerd contribution for the day. I love making mixtapes (actual cassette tapes). First mixtape I made I was 5. This is not the nerdy part. I just found out my favorite Memorex tapes come in a 110 minute version. Which means I can fit 11 more minutes of goodness into my next mixtape. So stoked.
June 28, 2025 at 6:27 PM
My nerd contribution for the day. I love making mixtapes (actual cassette tapes). First mixtape I made I was 5. This is not the nerdy part. I just found out my favorite Memorex tapes come in a 110 minute version. Which means I can fit 11 more minutes of goodness into my next mixtape. So stoked.
I'm rewatching Trueblood with my bestie and I gotta be honest, if Bill Compton showed up in my Louisiana town living in his ancestral plantation home, I would burn it down in the daylight with him in it.
June 12, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I'm rewatching Trueblood with my bestie and I gotta be honest, if Bill Compton showed up in my Louisiana town living in his ancestral plantation home, I would burn it down in the daylight with him in it.
For the past two years I have been largely resting[1] for once in my entire life. It's going to be wild going back to the saucy public facing designer/performer/academic space. But I think requesting my Department profile picture be this one is a good start.
June 10, 2025 at 5:29 PM
For the past two years I have been largely resting[1] for once in my entire life. It's going to be wild going back to the saucy public facing designer/performer/academic space. But I think requesting my Department profile picture be this one is a good start.
dgrayi & KST SCENT are LA based Korean and Vietnamese perfumers who have some of the deepest layered scents. They were sadly out of my favorite Kissa Kittie, but I'm definitely going to order directly. Plus look how cute each scent comes with their own little art trading card!
May 31, 2025 at 10:50 PM
dgrayi & KST SCENT are LA based Korean and Vietnamese perfumers who have some of the deepest layered scents. They were sadly out of my favorite Kissa Kittie, but I'm definitely going to order directly. Plus look how cute each scent comes with their own little art trading card!
Happy World Goth Day, but especially to Baby Bat me who has no idea that she'll get her dream of dancing in Goth Clubs round the world. The LA Goth scene will always be my home, and I've never regretted being the Scene Queen who'll outlast you on the floor. BIPOC Goths exist, and we always have.🦇
May 22, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Happy World Goth Day, but especially to Baby Bat me who has no idea that she'll get her dream of dancing in Goth Clubs round the world. The LA Goth scene will always be my home, and I've never regretted being the Scene Queen who'll outlast you on the floor. BIPOC Goths exist, and we always have.🦇
I'm getting braids in today and I need everyone to know they will GLOW in the DARK. I blended the hair myself. Gotta get the serotonin where you can find it. 💕
April 22, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I'm getting braids in today and I need everyone to know they will GLOW in the DARK. I blended the hair myself. Gotta get the serotonin where you can find it. 💕
This puppet has the face I make when people tell me all bleed is negative.
April 13, 2025 at 9:21 PM
This puppet has the face I make when people tell me all bleed is negative.
Super stoked how these bowls turned out. I've wanted to replace my commercially made dishes with ones I've made, and these are snazzy. The ones on the left are unfired, and the right shows what they look like after being fired.
March 11, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Super stoked how these bowls turned out. I've wanted to replace my commercially made dishes with ones I've made, and these are snazzy. The ones on the left are unfired, and the right shows what they look like after being fired.
Found this gem of a photo from when I was in grad school and writing down my larp philosophies. One of my favorite not often said things from this list is, "Larp needs dramaturgy." I deeply stand by that.
February 17, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Found this gem of a photo from when I was in grad school and writing down my larp philosophies. One of my favorite not often said things from this list is, "Larp needs dramaturgy." I deeply stand by that.
I know this because I have been a cast member since I was tricked into bringing a prop sandwich to rehearsals, and accidentally joined the show. Here I am as the Goddess of Fate in 2013? 14?
January 24, 2025 at 6:50 AM
I know this because I have been a cast member since I was tricked into bringing a prop sandwich to rehearsals, and accidentally joined the show. Here I am as the Goddess of Fate in 2013? 14?
In middle school our town library got a new type of Librarian, a YA librarian. She was a cool goth who revitalized our library and made us into book reviewers for the new YA genre. This meant I got to read, review and nominate the first YA books on the market. Including Tithe by Holly Black.
December 20, 2024 at 9:46 PM
In middle school our town library got a new type of Librarian, a YA librarian. She was a cool goth who revitalized our library and made us into book reviewers for the new YA genre. This meant I got to read, review and nominate the first YA books on the market. Including Tithe by Holly Black.
I am so unserious. I'm taking a professional wrestling class at my gym, gentle Pilates classes, and looking into going back into circus classes all to, * checks notes* give better more embodied workshops.
Me when I show up to teach:
Me when I show up to teach:
December 11, 2024 at 4:24 PM
I am so unserious. I'm taking a professional wrestling class at my gym, gentle Pilates classes, and looking into going back into circus classes all to, * checks notes* give better more embodied workshops.
Me when I show up to teach:
Me when I show up to teach:
I will not be at Pax Unplugged, because I will be slinging games and ceramic work at my studio sale this weekend. Combining game design with performance, textiles, and ceramics has been my reset in the past two years. So if you're in LA, and you need a game about cursed cups see you this weekend?
December 2, 2024 at 5:02 PM
I will not be at Pax Unplugged, because I will be slinging games and ceramic work at my studio sale this weekend. Combining game design with performance, textiles, and ceramics has been my reset in the past two years. So if you're in LA, and you need a game about cursed cups see you this weekend?