This is a bit of unstructured, but bear with me here… I have a lot to say and struggle with conveying what I mean through words.
With everything that’s been happening in the fandom lately, I’ve been debating if even continuing to make this comic is a good idea.
The pretender AU’s story includes topics such as masking, dissociation, abuse of power, corporate greed, and compliance. It started as a way to vent my frustrations about these issues and my feelings through a character I could see myself in.
I know for a fact that what I’m making has nothing to do with current ongoings or past controversies… However, because of what it is about, and based on how people in this fandom have acted in the past, I became worried.
I can’t control how people interpret things, nor can I make them like things… the only thing I can do is trust that they decide to interact with what I make responsibly… and that is the problem. I do not trust the Submas fandom as a whole to do this. The few bad apples have ruined the reputation of an entire orchard. This fandom is a place ridded with paranoia and it’s started to affect me.
In terms of direct interactions with people in the fandom, everyone has been incredibly kind and sweet. I want to connect with people and geek out. It’s one of my main motivators for drawing, and gives me new ideas to work with. But there is this barrier here and it’s making things difficult.
All this is to say… I’ve decided to prioritize silly doodles over full on AU comics. It sucks, I know. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to tell a story to a large group of interested people. But until I either get over my own anxieties, or the fandom somehow becomes less paranoid, I’m gonna be making less serious things. It causes me less personal stress. Thank you to everyone who’s been supportive of my work and eager to see more. I’m sorry I’m letting this get to me.
Make sure to do your internet safety checks, it’s wild out here folks.
