Why do I rarely draw Mutsusaki these days? Because I’ve become afraid of certain parts of the fandom. Some people seem to believe that artists should be completely devoted to a single ship, and they place far too many expectations on creators. The moment they see me drawing a different ship, they become disappointed and start blaming me, as if I’ve somehow betrayed their expectations. I’ve thought about why this happens. Maybe people have come to expect me to draw nothing but Mutsusaki because I’ve drawn them so much? But at the end of the day, I’m just drawing fanart and sharing it for free. And yet, I’ve been subjected to verbal abuse, had my family dragged into it, and faced personal attacks. Someone even went so far as to tell me to become a rich man’s sugar baby and stop drawing altogether. Another person privately messaged me to insult me and demand that I stop using an icon drawn by a Mutsusaki artist I mutually follow, simply because I was using that artist’s artwork as my profile picture. On top of that, some overly aggressive fans screenshotted my character analyses of Viola and Miyako and shared them in a relatively private space, where other people joined in to attack me and question whether I was out of my mind. But I’m just an ordinary person who draws fanart, aren’t I? What I draw and what I like should be my own choice. Creating fanworks for a particular ship doesn’t mean I have to conform to a certain set of beliefs or expectations, nor does it mean I’m obligated to please everyone. Honestly, after going through all of this, it becomes harder and harder to draw without fear, and harder to simply enjoy creating things for their own sake. I genuinely wish there could be a little more respect between people. Everyone is free to like what they like, and feeling disappointed is a personal feeling. But neither of those things should ever be an excuse to hurt someone else. I still love both of these characters. I really do. I won’t take out my frustration over all of this on the characters themselves.

👻

山人自有妙计！