Karma Laundrette

ethrosdemon, Kassie, has passed away. I learned this the day of her passing, and with respect to the "details," I only know that she was private about her lingering illness and that her family isn't having a service/to do about it. I'm not seeking more information that wasn't mine to know.

Our relationship ended about six years ago, over differing opinions on fandom, how we each wanted to talk about it and write about it, and that led to the creation of what Hey, Don't Judge Me is today. (So thanks for pushing me to get that out there in the world. I've enjoyed writing for that site tremendously.)

When I thought we were ending our working relationship, she evidently meant our real life friendship. It was a hard pill to swallow for me.

We'd been friends. We talked on the phone regularly. We encouraged each other's writing. (I loved her writing. It was how we became friends, that damn epic RPS with everyone from the CW and beyond.) We had some really intense disagreements, but one thing about our arguments: she fought with me because she respected me. If she didn't care about what I had to say, she wouldn't have wasted her energy arguing, you know? That's who she was.

I've been trying to put my feelings together for losing someone who had been a close friend, privy to all my private real life issues, but someone who had walked away from me. And you know what? It doesn't matter in the end. I'm sorry for her family and friends. She was bigger than life in a lot of ways, elbowing her way into conversations because she had something interesting to say, but if she elbowed her way into your life, it was because she thought you were worth her time in that moment.

I'll take that. Rest in peace, Kassie.