With all the shit that's going on right now, I'm worried Washington DC is going to get bombed. I don't want to disclose where I live, but let's just say if that happens, I'll be in the midst of it.

I'm fucking terrified right now. I hope you guys get to see more of my work.

If you've seen my previous journal, then you know I said I'd open requests again once I've sorted myself out and worked on a few personal projects.

Well, I'm sorry to say, I've changed my mind. I'm closing requests permanently. I'll still complete the ones I've already been given; I just won't accept any new ones.

I'm close to graduating from college, after which I'll be tasked with looking for a job and adjusting to life in the working world. I don't want to do free art on top of that. It would just be an unnecessary burden, plus, I have to be in the right headspace to work on requests, which would be near impossible to achieve when I'm constantly stressed out from work. I hope you all understand.

I'll still accept art trades and commissions. If you want me to draw for you, it will have to be in the form of either of those. If you're not an artist and don't have money to spend, find another artist. Same rules apply: no NSFW, be patient, don't overwork me or visit me too often.

That's it, guys. See you around and don't ask me for any more requests.

It's often said that the number one rule of being a writer/artist is learning to accept constructive criticism. While some people are trolls who just want to take you down, some actually want to try and help you improve as a writer/artist. Of course, we often hear tales of artists/writers who absolutely refuse to accept constructive criticism and block anyone who doesn't blindly praise their work and call them a junior Van Gogh/Tolstoy. However, could it be that in some cases, an artist's/writer's work isn't really sub-par, but just not for you? I've got my own story to tell now:

So there was this one artist on this site, this baby-fur artist. I'm usually fine with that sort of thing, like, it's your fetish, go right ahead, but this guy's stuff, I had a few problems with it. For starters, I often found it hard to tell whether the characters in it were actual toddlers or AB older kids. In the description, it says that his fursona is ten years old and likes wearing diapers, but sometimes his work suggests that his character is an actual toddler, and a lot of it just makes my head hurt. I think of his characters as ABs anyway, since they act more like it than actual toddlers, but that leads to another problem: Every character who isn't an ABDL is WAY too accepting of the ones who are. Nearly every child character is an AB, and their parents are perfectly fine with it. Don't get me wrong, it's great that they accept their kids the way they are, but the fact that they act like it's normal just makes it seem kinda unrealistic.

Another problem I have with it is that the main character kinda acts more like a stereotype of an AB than a real AB. I've heard stories from ABs, and that sort of thing typically comes with denial, thoughts of "What the heck is WRONG with me?", the fear of being judged, among other things. Even once you accept it as part of yourself, you're sure to have boundaries when it comes to that sort of thing. The main character of these works, he doesn't seem to have any shame or boundaries. He doesn't try to disguise himself as a normal citizen when he goes out, and I'm pretty sure he's never been potty trained. Honestly, it seems less like it's a way to make himself feel more comfortable in his own skin and more like he just doesn't want to stop being a baby.

Perhaps the biggest problem I had, though, has to do with one specific saga this user created. Basically, one of this user's friends on the site appears in the user's fictional world as one of his fursona's best friends and also an ABDL kid, and anyway, this particular story dealt with the friend's twin older cousins. The cousins started out as bullies who loved picking on kids smaller than them, then they were caught and punished by being treated like babies. Both cousins start out hating this, but one grows to love it and ultimately becomes an AB, and that becomes his new favorite past-time, so he stops feeling the need to bully little kids. All that is fine and all, I mean, it's an ABDL story, so I shouldn't kink-shame people, but what made me mad is that after this happens, everyone else gets the idea that if they force the other cousin to be an AB long enough, the same thing will happen with him. Like, if they're doing it just to punish him, that's one thing, but I really do not approve of people trying to force their kinks on others. It honestly kinda made me want to side with the bad guy.

Anyway, I came up with a solution to all these problems: I suggested the introduction of a straight-man character, sort of like this universe's equivalent of Squidward Tentacles. Perhaps a practical character who isn't an AB nor entirely comfortable being surrounded by them. He could react to the insanity of everything happening around him and create some self-awareness. I waited to see what the guy would say, but it turns out, he blocked me. I was scared I might have offended him, so I asked the same friend I mentioned earlier to speak to him for me. The friend said the guy was irritated that I was trying to tell him how to do his stuff. I feel like some might say he was just being bitter about receiving constructive criticism, but after thinking about it, I realized something.

Perhaps all the problems I have with the guy's work are the same reasons others love it so much. Perhaps everyone being so accepting of all the ABs around them creates a fantasy for real life ABs where they don't have to feel ashamed of themselves or worry about people judging them. Perhaps the main character is the way he is because he's what every AB wants to be. Perhaps the introduction of a straight-man character like I suggested would have destroyed the fantasy for fans of the guy's work.

Basically, I tried to convince somebody whose work isn't for me to change his work to fit my personal tastes, not even considering what fans of his work might think of the change. I thought I was trying to help someone out, when in reality, I was just being selfish. At that moment, I was no better than this guy who berated me for writing an Ed, Edd n' Eddy parody using South Park characters and giving Eddy's role to Cartman, when the guy thought Kenny should be in Eddy's place, despite me explaining to him over and over again why that would not work. So you all, next time you want to criticize somebody's work, maybe ask yourself this question: "Is it poorly made, or not for me?"