The End of an Era

As some of you on Facebook already know, I’m leaving the art website known as Deviantart. I’ve been on that site for four years. Two of those years was during a hard time in my life where I could do little more than lie in bed, watch T.V., write, and draw. This was due to my (at the time undiagnosed) condition known as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (or POTS).

The site was an escape for me and allowed me to maintain my sanity during the two years I was bound to my bed. However, after I got my condition under control I still continued posting on the site. It was mostly due to the emotional ties I had to the site and the friends I’d made there. Problems soon arose during the next few years that made it hard to want to stay.

Most of those problems were due to the community on the site, especially some of the fandoms I was participating in. Particularly, the Legend of Zelda fandom. They were the most obnoxious and mean group if you didn’t conform to the status quo in the clubs. Many of the character pairings were what cause the most grievance. However, the worst group were the ones demanding that Nintendo give us a timeline. Eventually, the company did give us one but it was obviously thrown together.

Other issues I’ve had with the site had to do with how it was run. I drove me crazy when they made different changes that made no sense. Also warning users that if you weren’t active enough that they’d shut down your account. That was scary. However, it’s unclear if that ever really went through. Either way, I’m now leaving the sites so that I can protect my work from being stolen by thieves on the site.

I’m sad to be leaving a site that has given me a lot of joy over the years but it’s time to move on to other places where I feel that my art will be viewed by a better class of people.