This is a genuine question, how do you maintain interest in bg3? Is it bc you can make OC in it that the hyperfixation becomes longer? Or is it the extrinsic factors like social interaction or money? I never lasted more than 6 months in a fandom IF i draw it, they stay longer if i dont draw it or else id become burned out and got icked fast. Would love to know your way how to balance between personal pleasure/fixation with maintaining an art account/patreon
Hi! Please do not refer to my interests as "hyperfixations". Your only exposure to me is through social media accounts where I draw what I draw and carefully curate how much of my life I actually wish to share - which happens to be very little. That is far, far too little context for anyone to draw conclusions about the extent of my relationship with the media I create, let alone pathologize it.
But to answer the question, I'm afraid the only conscious effort that I make in regards to what I draw is the actual spacing-out of the subjects I do have an interest in (so, for example, swapping between art of different AU's, couples, or characters who are from BG3 and KCD2). That is how I reinvigorate my interest across pairings and "genres" - for example, I am currently halfway through the Jaheira comic and I already cannot wait to get back to doing Astarion stuff, but I'm really glad that I took a sort of "break" from him.
I do not really feel like there is any difference between what I want to draw, what I enjoy drawing, and what I feel compelled to draw. When I got into KCD2, BG3 took a step back - if I find another piece of media that I want to create art for, I will make room for it, too. I don't really draw things I'm not interested in, (if I did, you would see a lot more Halsin, Raphael, Rolan, Minthara, etc - as those are very frequent requests) and similarly I don't draw everything that I am interested in (far from it) because, again, not everything that I enjoy has to be shared publicly or suits what I like to make art about. I god damn love the Sopranos. I do not want to draw Tony doing the dirty.
Also, I don't know if this is a factor, but I don't really interact with fandom that much. I interact with my followers and a select number of friends I've made along the way who have interests of their own- and I generally follow people based on art-style/humor rather than fandom. I unfollow and block people who pick fights or get into discourse. Having vastly different interpretations from my own is fine - hell, it's preferable! - but trying to control other people's headcanons is baffling behavior that I steer clear of. I only mention this because "discourse" is far, far, the most frequent reason I hear from people who stop interacting with the communities that form around the media that they enjoy - I don't know if it applies to you at all.
Thing is, I've created an expansive, detailed background, personality, and story for DU drow, and I have no qualms with delving into AU or tweaking canon to my liking - I have dozens and dozens of drafted prompts and notes in my phone with ideas for pieces, comics, and smut that I want to draw that were all based on this particular character and this particular universe. These are all ideas that I plucked out of my own head and don't rely on fandom to exist - to grow sick of them would be to grow sick of myself, not the community 🤷
This probably doesn't provide you with any actual actionable advice, but it's just how I feel! Which I suppose TLDR would be: I just like it and I neither force myself to draw anything nor do I hold myself back from branching out. I don't overthink it, I think that helps.
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