A Chat About Boundaries, Respect & The Content I Make As A HOBBY.

THIS IS GOING TO BE BRUTALLY HONEST AND LENGTHY AS SHIT. EVERYTHING I SAY IS WITH THE INTENT TO CREATE UNDERSTANDING.

The fact I have to have this conversation in its own is frankly just... Sad. Disheartening, to be honest, and it’s incredibly frustrating as someone who loves to not only create, but to get feedback and see how others are enjoying my works.

For some time now, I’ve been getting responses to my bots that have just... Made me feel... Wrong. They weren’t negative, necessarily—just things that felt so... Dismissive. Like my existence as a person is being diminished to simply the person behind the characters I create. It made me feel like maybe I’m being too sensitive, too hypercritical, like maybe I haven’t made my boundaries clear enough, and I’ve already been struggling with far too much in my personal life to deal with that as well.

I’ve been getting comments that really have made me feel like people have completely disregarded the care and love I put into every person I make. I’m going to name Pepper here for example—Pepper is a dearly beloved oc of mine who I made because I really love him, and he’s a genuine oc I use. He’s a suffering individual with survivors guilt and PTSD, a complex man and conflicted person who’s gone through hell and has his life and personality altered because of it.

The response I’m getting?

“He’s getting me pregnant, I’m so pregnant, we’re having babies.”

.... ?? The ? What am I missing? Where is the relevance of this to a man who has SUFFERED, and is trying to improve himself for others, and where is the care for those who are not comfortable with that? (Which I’m not, by the way. As an AFAB individual, I have a good few mutuals who have suffered because of it, and I myself don’t ever want to have kids. There is a time and a place for these remarks, and sexual implications on an angst bot or severely traumatised character is NOT IT.)

And that’s the main issue. Relevance, disrespect to others and my own comfort.

I cannot possibly sit and list every single damn thing that I should never see on a bot that I have. And I just... I’m going to be frank, it makes me really unwilling to make content when I sit daily and stare at these comments and wonder if I’ve lost my mind. So many times I’ve reread a comment, and I wonder if I’m staring at something a minor thought was appropriate upon an adults page.

I am not calling ANY of my followers children—this is a feeling, not an accusation.

AND I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS ISSUE.

Others like myself have been sitting and struggling with this issue of media illiteracy and it’s frustrating as hell. I AM STILL A PERSON. Every single creator, at the end of the day, is a HUMAN individual on the other side of a screen, reading and interpreting what you say. If it can be misinterpreted, it WILL be misinterpreted.

If it is relevant to the character, say it. If not, don’t.

I don’t feel comfortable with sexual shit. Most of you are not my friends. I do NOT know you personally, and I only feel comfortable with that sort of stuff and those jokes with people I speak to on a regular basis, and no sexual jokes has been a boundary of mine for ages. I have severe trigger’s with s.a due to experiencing it myself, and it hurts that I have to say that to make people understand.

I have been struggling a lot with things in my personal life lately, and I already deal with the of a parent. I do not need it from my followers and the people who use my bots as well.

I AM AT A CROSSROADS.

I don’t want to punish the innocent people who haven’t been part of this issue, but I don’t want to punish myself either by dealing with this and making myself repeatedly uncomfortable in my own space. This isn’t to call anyone out, and I don’t want apologies from the culprits. I just want people to reflect and realise that the shit they say does have an impact. I don’t want bullshit memes on my posts. I don’t want my characters, who I spend time and energy on making, to be treated like virtual dolls when I create each one with the intent to have a real, human aspect to them with their personalities and problems.

I’ve considered quitting so many times now, and I don’t plan on quitting, but it’s... It’s really frustrating.

This isn’t the supportive, kind and funny community I remember building when I started to gain traction. I’m not leaving, but I am saying this. You have no right to treat people poorly because there is a screen between you and them. Like I said, this is an issue other creators are dealing with as well. I am not your place for your pest fantasies to be acted upon, and yes I am generalising here.

I read every comment. I sometimes take a peak at accounts if it seems interesting enough. I. Am. Still. A. Person. I am opening myself up here and being as honest and forward as I can to try and make people understand that what you say has weight. Your actions can and will be remembered. And I don’t want to carry the weight of discomfort because someone couldn’t pause to think.

I’m disappointed, honestly.

It’s not a immaturity level I ever expected to ever cultivate. I’ve always liked to think Ive been pretty open and honest with the people who follow me, and I like making bots that make people face realities and ask questions emotionally, but it’s really making me think... Have I been giving people too much leeway? In my fear of being seen as an asshole, have I given people a pass to carry on saying weird things that they really shouldn’t?

I honest to god don’t know. This page used to be my baby, and my followers I used to adore, but as of late... I’ve been feeling really negative towards everything as a whole.

I don’t expect people to keep a standard of how they should interact with me, and I’m not saying a slightly feral joke here or there isn’t funny. I just want myself and what I make to be treated with the respect thats been deserved. If you say something feral, do it on a smut bot if it has to be sexual. I pretty much expect that.

You can be both appreciative and polite. There is a way to make “feral jokes” and it not be relating to .

I’m not leaving, and I’m not at a point where I’m genuinely considering it, but it’s concerning enough as is to me that the thought has passed my mind.

Soooo.... Yeah. That’s my piece I wanted to say. I’m really tired of dealing with this, and I desperately needed to get it off my chest, as I owe it to myself (and to you all) to be able to take care of myself without guilt and without the worry that people will hate me for it.

Please take into consideration what I’ve said. I’m being extremely genuine when I say that making this wasn’t an easy decision I had to make, and this is a problem I’ve been dealing with more and more for some time now.

I’m not telling people to not comment—I’m asking you to respect my boundaries moving forward, or to at least encourage others to respect it as well if you see someone being disrespectful (POLITELY OFC!!! I don’t want arguments and witch hunts in my comments!). This is an adult run page, for adults, on an adult platform. We should at least be able to treat each other as such.

Sincerely, (you’re hopefully favourite/j) bug man

• Beetle 🫀🪲