may 2025: month in review
hey everyone!
heather here and i wanted to do a recap blog for the month of May! HJP was BUSY and i could not be more proud of this nonprofit’s first official month of existence! 🤩
BY THE NUMBERS
one of the pillars of HJP are member-driven events. every HJP member has the opportunity to shape the experience for others, whether they’re hosting an in-game event, teaching a skill, or just showing up! encouraging members to create experiences for everyone in HJP means that every single one of our events promises something new, interesting, and different! there’s always something to discover and fun to be had.
HEATHERJUSTPLAY IS A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
in April, we transformed HJP from a YouTube community to a nonprofit organization! 🥳 we’re still waiting to hear back from the IRS on our 501(c)(3) designation but that hasn’t stopped HJP from being as active as ever!
“HeatherJustPlay is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering personal growth, meaningful connection, and a sense of belonging through video games, collaborative play, and digital creativity.
For the people who join, HJP is more than just an online gaming space. It is a community where people from all walks of life come together to feel empowered, supported, and inspired. Through member-driven events and immersive experiences, they discover their potential and level up both in game and in real life.
At the heart of everything we do is a belief in personal growth through play. When people are free to explore, create, and connect in playful environments, they build confidence, deepen relationships, and unlock new possibilities for themselves and their everyday lives.”
my vision is to create a space where people connect over things they love, not things they hate. fun is at the core of everything we do, whether that’s coming up with unique glams (outfits) in Final Fantasy XIV or trying to survive the final extraction in REPO. we’re building something that has already had a tremendous positive impact on peoples’ lives and i’m really excited to see where we go from here! LET’S DO THIS HJP!
if you’re new to HJP, join us! most of our events happen in our Discord server and you can click this link to join.
HIGHLIGHTS
New Member Orientation Video
our member mentor, Zro Day aka Reuben, put together this AMAZING orientation video for all of our new HJP members. it’s always intimidating when you’re brand new to a community but this video is a great introduction to what we’re about and how you can get involved. also, i’m SO excited to have another face on the HJP youtube channel! 🤩 we’ll be adding more faces in the near future! HJP is made up of an incredibly diverse group of people and i’m excited to highlight that!
Crystalline Conflict Custom Tournament
we had our first official Crystalline Conflict Custom Tournament in HJP! the Crystalline Conflict Custom Tournament in Final Fantasy XIV is a PvP (Player vs. Player) event where players go head-to-head in teams to battle for control of the crystal on a compact battlefield. it’s a fast-paced, 5v5 mode that’s part of the larger PvP system in FFXIV.
many of the folks that were part of this event had never done PvP in FFXIV before. the competition can be intimidating but in HJP, fun is always the focus and everyone had a great time! i’m hoping to join in on the next one!
R.E.P.O.
HJP has recently gotten into a new game called R.E.P.O., created by the indie dev team at Semiwork. i cannot tell you how much fun it’s been to play with HJP members. it’s a survival-style game where you and your team have to clear extractions and make it back to the truck under high-pressure, life-or-death conditions. every session is unique thanks to the random generation of enemies, levels, and the weapons or upgrades available in the shop.
but what makes it extra special is the teamwork, the strategy, and how we have to move as a unit and literally watch each other’s backs. sometimes we’re just casually chatting about our days, what books we’re reading, or in Ciri’s case, she’ll be telling us about her fitness journey and then—BAYUM—robe sneaks up behind her and takes her out, leaving all of us absolutely shocked. 😱
talk about growth. i honestly thought i had outgrown the chance to “get good” at a game like this again. i used to hold my own back in the halo 2 days and don’t even get me started on how i used to wreck the boys in class when Goldeneye was the thing. 😝 but between the motion sickness that’s crept in with age and joining multiplayer games years after release when everyone’s already REALLY GOOD, i kinda figured that era of gaming was behind me. turns out? it’s not! learning something new alongside other HJP members where all of us on the same level and we can celebrate our progress… it’s been SO fun! i’ll probably write a whole blog just about this game. in the meantime, go read tom’s blog about REPO! it’s awesome and dives deeper into what makes it so special.
Voice Acting 101
one of the most magical things about HJP is how our foundation as a chill, inclusive community of adult gamers has made it easy to appreciate the person behind the player. there’s no cringe here. just genuine curiosity and encouragement. everyone is excited to learn about each other’s interests, hobbies, and passions and we encourage members to share all of that in our community!
a perfect example of this was our Voice Acting 101 class hosted by Violet Cathdraig. this workshop wasn’t just fun (which it absolutely was). it was also super helpful. i’ve felt more confident reading text during livestreams and i’ve even caught myself being more intentional with public speaking, cutting back on the “um’s” and “like’s.” but what really stood out to me was how cool it was to just… enjoy a presentation someone made for funsies.
seriously, when else do you get the chance to put together a slide deck about voice acting, or podcasting, or fashion, or whatever lights you up, and share it with people who are actually excited to learn from you with zero pressure? ISN’T THAT COOL?
if you’re a member and you’ve got an idea for a workshop or class, hit me up! LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN!
REACT Watch Party - A Realm Reborn Edition
“In late May, 8Bit and Sarilla hosted and put together a playlist of FFXIV YouTube videos to enjoy with Heather, Tom, and many other HJP members. The playlist consisted of recommended videos from the community. The only parameter: videos couldn't contain major spoilers for expansions beyond ARR (Heavensward and beyond). It was so much fun!
The event was a relatively new idea - inspired by an initial Community Watch Along of Noclip's documentary of FFXIV (November 2024 maybe?). For this REACT WATCH PARTY, the event focused more on live discussions and other social aspects rather than the usual combat focused community content we do in HJP (trials, raids, roulettes, maps, etc.) 🔥!
The playlist consisted of meme job class guides, music videos, dance videos, short films, parodies, and even a collaboration video of 200+ musicians playing/singing the best musical scores from FFXIV! 😍
Can't wait till we plan the next REACT WATCH PARTY for later expansions!”
sarilla, one of our historians, posted this on the HJP instagram. check it out here!
Discord and Website Updates
since HJP is still a relatively new online community, every member, every moment, and every event has the power to shape what we’re building together. i’m constantly thinking about new, fun, and exciting ways to foster connection between members. since discord is our main hub, i want to regularly publish the updates we make to it. same goes for our website which is the main way we showcase the stories, magic, and impact happening in the HJP community.
here’s a look at all the updates we made over the past few weeks.
NEW DISCORD CATEGORY: 🖼️CREATIVITY CORNER
🎨art
A cozy, supportive space to learn, create, and share art together! This channel is here to spark your creativity and promote personal growth through artistic expression. Monthly themes and prompts will offer inspiration, but you’re always welcome to share anything you’ve made like sketches, digital art, or crafts. Feel free to post art tutorials, references, and resources (we’ll pin or thread where needed)!
🎥content-creators
For anyone who creates content online, whether it’s videos, streams, podcasts, blogs, or something totally unique. This is the place to talk shop, ask questions, share resources, and get feedback. Feel free to post what you’re working on, but keep the focus on learning, growing, and supporting each other (not just self-promo). Let's level up our content together!
NEW DISCORD CHANNEL: 💪🏼fitness
Share your workouts of the day, workout stats, movement goals, or just cheer each other on! whether you’re lifting, stretching, walking, or dancing in your living room, every bit counts. Let’s move, grow, and celebrate our wins big and small!
UPDATED WEBSITE BLOG CATEGORIES
i re-did our blog categories so we currently have three: Event Logs, Member Logs, and Captain’s Log.
✏️Event Logs: recaps of HJP events
✏️Member Logs: reflections, stories, shoutouts, testimonials - anything from your perspective as an HJP member.
✏️Captain’s Log: reflections from me, captain of kraken’s call and executive director of HJP.
anyone in HJP is welcome to write a blog for our website! feel free to message either me or one of the historians if you’re interested! 🤩
UPDATED HOME PAGE
we have a new video banner on our homepage with our official nonprofit mission statement right at the top!
From the Captain
one of the things that never ceases to amaze me about HJP is how dedicated our event leaders are. Tinael puts in so much time and energy prepping for our FFXIV TTRPG sessions and it really shows. Arcana will go out of her way to help members through the first phase of the A Realm Reborn relic weapon grind so they can catch up to the main group and we can all play together. Brutali Tea is always finding super fun, unique, and creative events outside of HJP, like the Anklebiters Lalafell Parade hosted by another FFXIV community, and makes sure HJP gets to enjoy them too. and let’s not forget the many spreadsheets created by Sarilla, Kaeyin, 8bit, and Mordak for things like Eureka, Glam Farming, and Mount Mondays.
none of this is required. no one has to do any of it. everyone here is a volunteer who’s choosing to show up and contribute. that’s what makes it so special.
i could not be more grateful for this incredible community that spans ages 20 to 73, across states and countries, neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ folks, all kinds of backgrounds and life experiences. and in an algorithmically-driven digital world that often feels designed to reward negativity, here we are sharing the things we love, collaborating, and making memories together.
it’s pretty freaking incredible. and i’m so freaking proud!
hope you enjoyed this recap blog! lots of things to look forward to on the horizon and i can’t wait to share them with you all here! until next time!
-H
