So hiiiiiii. This one goes out to fan artists of all stripes. Especially the ones that would prefer not to be witnessed by the folks making the art upon which the fan art is based. (Please don't be nervous, just keep reading - this is particularly for you and I promise it's all good things.)
Folks... I love you. I mean, I don't know you. I want to keep healthy boundaries, but - I can't help but express the joy that I feel when I see dazzling creative manifestations based on something I've had a part in. It's really special.
Creativity is life. A cascade of interconnected ideas, dreams, and desires - exchanged actively or passively, all weaving into a beautiful tapestry. This is what it's all about. That any story, illustration, performance I've been a part of etc. has had a positive or inspiring impact on another mind? Heck yes. I live for this. Because it's mutual.
All art is collaborative, reciprocal, and I've got my fandoms and fascinations too.
I lived a good chunk of my life as a "media journalist", but what I actually was a professional lover of things. Not blindly, often critically, but passionately. One of my greatest joys still very much is appreciating and exploring art in all its forms. From interviews with revered creators, to rowdy podcast conversations, to creating my own fan art, to exploring the trenches of fandoms - marveling at the fascinating mutations, fetishes, and subcultures within subcultures. I've been on all sides of it, and even if I was studying something through an anthropological lens, it was and is always from a place of love, free of judgement.
But things have changed now. My enthusiasm is the same, but my profile has shifted and, though I don't feel any different, different power dynamics are in play.
I've become aware of the fact that (for example) the voice actor of a character you like, exploring the tags for that character on this platform, isn't necessarily welcome. Understandably, not everyone wants their raw creative outpourings (safe for work or otherwise) witnessed by the creatives behind those characters.
But here's the thing: I want you to keep creating and sharing your work. And I really, deeply, passionately don't want to do anything, even passively, that would deter your creativity. If my very presence in a space can make folks uncomfortable, that's no good either.
So: I'm hereby retiring from stalking the jungles of Tumblr tags etc. My feline curiosity is a hard thing to sate, but I promise to keep clear of fan spaces. Please keep creating unabashedly and unabated. That's really important to me.
If you want me to see a thing, go ahead and flag me down somehow, but otherwise I won't see it.
And, I'll tack on a little something else here for the adults in the room - I'd like to hope that my sex-positivity shines through my performances, but in case it need be said: rule 34, slashfic, erotica, smut etc. is Art (with a capital "A"). Your horniness is valid. I celebrate it, I encourage it, and, though I'll be avoiding interfacing with it (not for my comfort, but for yours), if you're making saucy fan art of characters I have some part in bringing to life - (speaking exclusively for myself) I think that's wonderful. Especially in these dark times, it's important to spread joyful liberation wherever we can.
Keep doing what you're doing, wonderful people. I'll see myself out.
Love,
-Cat
