(it's 8:40 am and I still haven't slept so maybe some of this journal has some errors or is worded awkwardly. Bear with me.)
So, recently someone sent in an old hentai game I made to Vinny from Vinesauce for the 'android trash' stream. It was labeled 'Jerma,' wasn't vetted. Vinny opened it briefly in stream before closing it and moving on.
Later in stream a few earrape games from the same person who sent him my hentai game also cropped up, and had my name slapped over it. Basically, someone was trying to impersonate me, which sadly isn't anything new. I had nothing to do with what was sent to Vinny, and I've already contacted him apologizing about it and explaining the situation, and he's acknowledged that someone's basically been framing me in his streams.
This is the one place where I haven't actually had to make a statement about the scenario. It felt like everyone I knew (and several people I didn't) were sending me messages on Twitter and Tumblr along the lines of "Dude, what were you doing in Vinesauce's stream?" Aside from that email I've never sent Vinesauce anything nor do I really follow them. (Oh yeah literally while typing this up someone in a Discord server is asking me what the hell was going on in the Toad Games full sauce video.)
I find the prospect of trying to sabotage another creator's career like that to be absolutely deplorable, so I'm angry that someone tried to use my work to do that to someone for a 'jape.'
One thing that kinda stuck out to me though is when explaining this some people started assuming that I don't want people to see my NSFW stuff, like I'm ashamed of it.
I'm ashamed that someone saw my r34 in a stream that absolutely should not contain r34, and I'm pissed off that someone's impersonating me (again). And I'm also disappointed that by blindsiding people like that, those peoples' first impression of Pivot is gonna be from a hentai game instead of her webcomic. (Which I just realized I've never actually linked here.)
But I wholly embrace NSFW art. Which is what I actually wanted to talk about in this journal.
NSFW artists (or artists who draw NSFW I feel is more accurate) get a lot of flak, likely due to some ficitious moral high ground that more puritan viewers think they have. So maybe that's why people assume that I would have some kind of shame for having made NSFW stuff.
In my case, I keep my NSFW on areas like Newgrounds which have robust filtering systems so you only see adult art if you intend to see it, or I keep it in dedicated accounts, e.g. I have two tumblrs and two twitters, one for SFW and one for NSFW.
Most artists I know operate the same way, some using a different name for their NSFW stuff if they also maintain a SFW account but the idea is generally the same. There are a few who try to skirt around ratings here and there, though they're not as common even if they're more noticeable.
The issue with NSFW is not the art itself, it's how it is handled.
I believe viewers should have control over what they see. If they do not want to see r34, it should be easy for them to avoid it. If they look for it, they should have the power to find it. Maybe there are checks in place (such as an age gate) but at the end of the day they are accountable for their media consumption.
People who disrupt this, by falsely labeling their adult art, as well as people who lack any sense of tact and share adult art and fetish materials in areas where it is not acceptable (e.g. in messengers) are where the problems come in.
And you'll find that this lack of sharing tact, when not done for 'shock' or out of malice, is often synonymous with a general lack of tact as well. These are usually the people who act creepy about NSFW and cannot treat it maturely, such as those who attempt to roleplay with anyone they contact, especially in a sexual manner.
And this sense of tact goes beyond just the adult rating. For instance, take a hypothetical Discord group, nobody apart from a single person in this group likes MLP. That single person continues to share My Little Pony stuff that literally NO ONE WANTS TO SEE. What do they accomplish by sharing this, if it's not to piss off the other members of the group? Generally, you share something because you think others will like it--but in this case, either the person is totally apathetic to that, or they have no idea on how to relate to their peers. This exact problem can exist regardless of whether or not the group is NSFW, and whether or not the content shared is adult.
The taboo comes from how NSFW is treated, not because of what it is. Because the taboo is so major there is often an overreaction to it, as if the art in question is what's causing this behavior. The problem lies with the people perpetuating the behavior, not usually the artists or their art. If you're involved in a car accident, the fault is not with the DMV for providing licenses, nor the car manufacturers for designing cars. It's typically one of the drivers' faults, which maybe would have been avoided if they drove safer.
The overreaction people have to NSFW in general also serves to empower people who would use adult content for the sake of shock value and reactions from the unsuspecting.
For shock cases, I believe that they would gradually become less prevalent if properly dismissed when they're not warranted. Going back to the imposter, when Vinny came across the game, he simply closed it out, said "Alright, next game is..." Which is among the best ways to deal with that kind of stuff.
At the end of the day, NSFW artists are just artists who produce NSFW. Sometimes a little, sometimes almost exclusively. They shouldn't be treated any different from an artist who abstains from it, at least from a social point. (Just make sure their stuff is rated appropriately.) Most are not vile people who want to corrupt vulnerable people, most are not perverts who are thinking about sex 100% of the time, we just like drawing specific themes every now and then, and mature content is a means of expression for us.
Maybe you don't want to see that kind of stuff, and that's totally understandable. As long as you're in control of what you see, and as long as neither of us judge one another solely based on what we create / consume, we both will be happy.
