Well I would see it in 2 ways.
Artis love and enjoyes draw my OC and is inspired by it as is using it as reference.
I kind of would love the idea as it make my OC famous.
Hoewer it might have some limitation like the pose act might not be compatible with nature of my OC ( But I don't belive it would be an issue as artist going to that level of recognisable details )

The second part it might have impact artist trying make you buy his or her art, by creating such unique pieces.
I personally if I love it and cant purchase it, might want artist use the pose as future commission reference for myself.

Not totally sure exactly what your saying but i guess it's kind of like catering to a specific audience. it can work for a while but people change. Whether it's tastes shifting or finances growing tighter or some other major life shift, it's hard to know what may or may not happen, and if you've worked yourself into a niche or become reliant upon a small group of customers, it's hard to adapt to that going away quickly.

I mean such a trivial thing like “three times a customer came to me to draw a shibari back view, I'll do YCH with shibari, back view, hope that this person will buy”.
When you as an artist realize what kind of kinks your regulars have and you do something targeted

I understand the whole thesis, the variability and all that. I understand it all and know it all, my post is not a veiled attempt to understand who I can approach to order from me. I'm interested in exactly what a customer who, for example, three times ordered something with paws from an artist who doesn't usually do paws, and then saw YCH with paws and in his brain jumped “they was definitely thinking of me when he made the sketch” would think

Oh, yeah, sometimes i just roll with it. if i have the ability to afford it will likely get it. Only time it feels creepy is when it feels like....an in joke at my expense.

Seems a bit skeevy if done on purpose as a manipulation. On the other hand, I've had cases where an artist made multiple sketches of something for me and used the remaining ones I didn't go with as YCHs afterward, which is totally fair.

Wellll, I mean... I've had a few artists get real inspired with some of my characters and scenarios, and there *has* been a few times where there was YCHs dropped that were right up my alley... but the way I look at it is a little more simple... if my characters inspire, then I am more than happy heh... I've had a couple of those ideas work out better, since I was able to grab a friend, and *they* bought it X3

I think baiting people with a YCH you know they'll like is perfectly acceptable, and not underhanded at all.

People like what they like, and if you're zoned in on that and they want more, nothing wrong with being ready to supply it.

The issue is this - doing things for an audience of 10000% okay and kind of the only right way in a lot of cases
But does the morality change if the artist is thinking about a very narrow audience or even a specific person?

In my mind, the answer is that it's still absolutely fine.

One, you're not actively proposing the person take it by coming to them and trying to have them buy a commission off you. You're still spending time making a sketch that they might not end up taking, and would have to eat that minor time loss if they chose not to.

Two, you could argue that unless the SB is very high, it favors that person to buy a YCH auction that might cater more to their tastes than the general public and therefore require less counterbidding.

Three, as much as previous commenters say that people and their needs/tastes change, they really largely don't. As an example, Dexterlion is still going to commission pictures of himself relaxing shirtless in nature even though he's got a hundred pictures of the same theme already. Has my wife baited someone before with a slightly targeted YCH or two? Sure. And usually, it was picked up by the person we thought would, and there were no complaints.

Four, it's a dog eat dog world out there, especially for artists in a world burgeoning with ai slop. Do what you got to. Even if I did think it was questionable, which I don't, I wouldn't tell you not to do it if you wanted the business and thought you could get it that way. It's not like you're trying to scam people.

That's just my opinion tho.

I'd just laugh and be like sneaky, Alright i dig it.They clearly had a specific idea in mind or kink to catch there attention or something.

Does not bother me at all

I think this is totally fine in most cases (some exceptions).

I think I'd even feel flattered that the artist liked working with me / my ideas / my characters that much.

The only times it would feel manipulative would be:
- If the kink were VERY specific and uncommon. To your "paws" example: MANY people enjoy that kink. Even if you hadn't drawn it before the one specific customer asked you, I'm sure a number of potential customers that both like the kink and like your art style would be interested. If the kink were FAR more uncommon / specific / controversial to where very few people like it, that might feel a bit too targeted/manipulative to me.
- If the character was an unusual species / body type AND the YCH specified that it wouldn't be changed. Most YCHs I've seen are clear that most species and most body types would be accommodated. Others specify that the body type must be similar to the example, but any species is fine. In rare cases, the YCH specifies what species the participants must be, but those are USUALLY from artists that are known for often drawing that species. If an artist drew a very specific species and/or body type AND specified that it could be changed, that might feel manipulative.

But, in the end, I think it's probably fine. Either the one specific person gets art they like, or new people bid on something they've not gotten from that artist before, or no one bids and the artist wasted their time sketching it out. There's nothing forcing the one commissioner to buy it, after all.

I think it's perfectly fine, I don't see anything wrong with it