all too many artists scare themselves into anxiety every time they draw fanbase content, but please don’t let that rule over your creations!
A good addition! And usually I would just reblog this without adding anything, but! Please do keep in mind that Ink is often read (especially by autistic fans) as an autistic-coded character. And that continuing to portray him as a cold and unfeeling sociopath may harm young Undertale fans with autism. Sorry, I just wrote a whole sort-of-essay post about this, and I keep getting comments from young autistic folks about how this exact trend makes them feel alienated from the fandom and a;slghd. Just a gentle reminder for everyone, I guess?
#i often catch myself in this trap as well tbh #as a Young Undertale Fandomite i characterized ink as that boring goody two shoes #and when i learned he wasnt that #i went from 0 to 100 #and made him that sociopathic villain dude #and then i learned to dial it back #and tbh? i still dont know where exactly to land his character
Okay, but these tags are also important because, honestly, learning to write characters, in a fandom setting, is a constant learning process and should be viewed as such. Because I’ve also seen people, in the tags of that post, talking down about themselves for having characterized Ink that way, and I am not about making folks feel shitty for unknowingly writing a character in a way that may be harmful to groups they’re just ... not a part of and so not naturally educated about. Like, yeah, I’d like everyone to know why that characterization may be more toxic than they first considered, but I’m not blaming people for not knowing that, ya feel me? It’s not like society or the American education system (the only education system I can personally speak for) does a bang-up job talking about the inner lives of autistic folks and their experiences in the world.
Not knowing something does not make someone an awful person. Behavior becomes problematic once you know that it is harmful (to others or yourself), and then continue on, anyway.
Also, if “I still don’t know where exactly to land his character” ain’t the constant Big Mood for writing Ink, lmao.
