from a creator to another, i really admire the audience you've managed to gain and how you are able to connect to them while also not letting them push boundaries. if it isn't a bother, could i ask you how you did it? naturally, you're a thicker skinned individual (judging by the amount of hate comments you get based on nothing), but how exactly did you manage to get a fanbase that admires your work while respecting you? i mainly ask because (not calling out anyone in particular, i'm just referring to something i've noticed a lot in spaces where the creator also makes visual novel games) the shift in fandom culture and etiquette has changed so much that a lot of people who claim to consume another creator's art might not actually respect them, which leads to creators having to change their vision to fit the likes of the general public and annoying or disrespectful fan interactions. wish you and your husband both well in your creative journeys.
Thank you, anon. It's funny that you bring this up, because this very same observation was actually the driving force of what motivated me to put my work out there!
I actually started out my presence online as a digital artist sharing my work on Twitter, and while I gained a modest following, some commissioners, and friends, I understood a kind of 'fundamental truth' with how Web 2.0 was set up to run, which is that it was meant to steal your attention and force you to develop submission over metrics. These metrics would be enough to shatter any person's sense of self-worth, because it assigned a number value to your worth. You just didn't have your own insecurity to fight, you have what is seemingly an objective metric that tells you exactly what it's worth.
At least, that's what it seems like in the surface. And to very susceptible young people who haven't developed their personalities yet, they can fall prey to this pretty easily.
But, I guess, it clashed with some of the actual things I believed in real life. I actually have a very adversarial relationship with popularity growing up because it's been a huge theme that contributed to my abuse. Not to recount a lot of details, but my mother was obsessed with her reputation even prior to this internet, and she was often 1) wracked with nerves about people's perception about her, and 2) a slave to trends that fades away every few months. Not only that, she would force this anxiety to her children, and make us abide by trending norms. What I understood from this constant exposure to trends... is that they often made me feel nothing. Their desirability is built on FOMO. Without FOMO, they were nothing but cheap, mediocre creations that's meant to appeal to the least common denominator. The mediocrity is the appeal, because it inspires participation from everyone involved.
