Some people might say I was overreacting.
After all, the viewers were probably just requesting drawings they wanted to see.
But judging from my experience as a streamer, I knew those suggestions weren’t made out of genuine interest.
“…How am I supposed to draw that? And on stream, no less. If it were a private commission, maybe. But I really don’t want to draw something like that by choice.”
And I meant it.
Sure, I made a living drawing art.
But I still had the right to refuse pieces I wasn’t comfortable with.
[+HurryAndLeave: Ah]
[+HurryAndLeave: That’s rough]
[Draw the furry]
[Furries are so hot tho…]
[It’s not even really a furry anyway lol]
[Pepe: Y’all are wild—just slapping a tail on a person doesn’t make it full-on furry]
It’s true, it wasn’t a full-on animal body.
If you looked closely, there were still human-like features.
But even so.
“Can you suggest something a bit more normal? I don’t want to get into trouble by drawing weird stuff like this.”
[+HurryAndLeave: If it were gonna cause controversy, it would’ve happened already tbh…]
[(Says the one who drew that cringey male character from a weeb mobile game)]
[Hmm… lol]
[Controversy?]
[Pepe: Didn’t you actually draw furry art for money before?
Am I the only one who remembers that..?]
[Gasp]
[We do not speak of those days…]
Unless the situation really called for it, I had no reason to draw characters with designs like that.
Seriously.
“So please recommend something else. I actually want to get started, but if you keep tossing out these kinds of requests, I might just switch over to a game instead.”
[Ooh]
[Ooh…]
[+HurryAndLeave: What do you mean “ooh” wtf]
[lololololol]
[The mod just snapped outta nowhere…]
[Pepe: This dude really, really loves art streams lololol]
[Art stream = peak content, fr]
As we were chatting and I was thinking about what to draw—
[Bangbae has donated 50,000 KRW!]
—Since you don’t usually draw this kind of thing, could you make an exception just this once?
Viewer love started pouring in.
And not the light kind—this was heavy.
“…You know, getting donations like this isn’t gonna dramatically change how I feel.”
[+HurryAndLeave: So you’re saying it kind of changes your mind then 👀]
[Got it, message received lol]
[This is killing me lololololol]
[Pepe: Seems like just a little more reward might do the trick]
[Bangbae: Got it]
[Got the green light lmao]
Honestly, as long as I was streaming, there wasn’t a clean way to reject something like that.
I couldn’t exactly tell people not to donate, either.
Just as I was thinking that.
[Bangbae has donated 100,000 KRW!]
—Yotte-nim, thank you as always.
That was serious love.
Love so overwhelming I could barely put it into words.
“Thank you for the donation. Ahem.”
At that point, I had no choice.
I had to at least taste it.
“Alright, then… I’ll just take a small bite, okay?”
[bruh.]
[+HurryAndLeave: This guy is just brutally honest…]
[There’s something so refreshing about someone this consistent lol]
[Pepe: Isn’t this too consistent tho? I’m crying lol]
[Do we still not have enough love in here?]
[Sigh… Might need to do a quick love fundraiser.]
[Can’t help though… I’m broke.]
“You really don’t need to shower me with more love. Now that I look at it, the character actually seems kinda cute.”
And I meant it.
Now that I was actually taking a closer look, it didn’t seem so bad.
With a few tweaks, I figured I could make something both the viewers and I would be happy with.
[+HurryAndLeave: That switch-up was instant lolololol]
[Didn’t you say before that you wouldn’t draw for money during a stream…?]
[Fr?]
[Yeah, he really did say that back in the day.]
[Kinda disappointing, ngl lol]
I noticed the chat starting to turn a bit hostile, so I quickly cleared it up.
“I still stand by what I said. If it’s a private commission, that’s different. But I never take donations during stream to decide what to draw.”
It was a simple truth.
If I was going to stream, I couldn’t let myself get pushed around by viewer demands.
A streamer needs to have their own values and direction.
You can’t just give in to what the viewers want every single time.
With that in mind, I started focusing on the artwork in earnest.
Like I’ve said before, the most important part of drawing is detail.
No amateur would attempt this genre if they couldn’t at least get the human anatomy right.
Thinking that, I started to bring the overall details of the drawing to life.
Swish swish.
“I haven’t seen this character before, but if people who like this kind of design are into it, I think emphasizing this part here would hit the mark.”
[+HurryAndLeave: yeah, that is a key feature lol]
[Why does this dude know exactly what matters lololol]
[Understanding consumer needs is literally everything]
[It really is all about understanding the market]
[As expected from Big Yotte—master of knowing what people want lol]
I made sure to highlight the parts that viewers would like, adding just the right amount of shading.
How much time had passed, I wasn’t sure.
“…I think this looks good enough now?”
I’d managed to complete the character they requested.
And not just complete—it turned out really well.
[+HurryAndLeave: Chef’s kiss]
[That’s insane]
[Seriously, you draw like a god lololololol]
[It’s not easy to draw this well, for real]
[Pepe: As expected from a man who makes a living off art ]
[Well well, looks like my lower body has gotten… quite moist.]
[I’d say yes.]
[Since you’re at it, could you add some central deltoids too? hehe…]
You have been temporarily banned!
[Central deltoids lmao]
Personally, I still thought there were a few areas of the illustration that could use some polish, but the viewers seemed very satisfied.
Which made sense, given the amount of time I’d put into it.
‘Honestly, the parts that still feel a bit lacking are things only someone with a trained eye would even notice.’
If you didn’t have detailed knowledge of illustration, you probably wouldn’t even catch them.
“If anyone wants to use this, come download it from the fan café. I’ll make versions sized for both desktop and mobile.”
Adjusting the size wasn’t hard.
Back when I did commissions, people often asked for custom wallpaper sizes too.
After uploading the illustration to the fan café, I started looking for what to draw next.
“Alright, just a heads-up—even if I get a lot of love like earlier, there’s no way I’m drawing something like that again. Doing that kind of thing twice in one day is a bit much.”
People came here to see me enjoy streaming.
It wouldn’t feel right to keep drawing something that might split the audience.
Unless the majority of viewers were really into it, there was no need to push it.
[+HurryAndLeave: lolol]
[Yeah, doing that kind of thing twice in a row would be a bit much lol]
[It is what it is]
[Let’s just go with that, then]
[Respectable decision lol]
[Pepe: I guess I’ll have to survive a whole month with just the last one… sigh]
[“Survive” my ass, shut up lol]
[Ew, dude…]
With that, I started drawing a more normal, generally acceptable character—
one that even an outsider wouldn’t raise an eyebrow at.
“Ugh… my throat hurts.”
Maybe it was because I’d been using my voice so much lately, but every time I got up, it felt like my throat was bone dry.
Kind of exhausting, honestly.
Still, there wasn’t much I could do.
The concert was slowly getting closer.
Granted, I still had at least a month left—but right now, the upcoming event mattered even more.
Singing was important, sure.
But the Heart Memorial event I was involved in was a huge deal, too.
I’d put a lot of thought and effort into the preparations.
Of course, I only handled the design work.
The rest was managed entirely by the Heart Memorial team.
Thinking about all that, I opened Discord.
Trtrtrr.
After a brief ringtone, a familiar voice picked up.
—“Hey, what’s up?”
“I heard from the project manager that they’re going to start setting up the equipment at the venue soon.”
—“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
Apparently, the production of the goods had finished way faster than I expected.
I thought it’d take a few months at least.
They must’ve had a factory already lined up and ready to go.
There’s no way things could’ve moved this fast otherwise.
Thinking that, I sent over the photos I’d gotten from the project manager.
“Check the chat for a sec. These are the pictures the manager sent over. I’d really appreciate it if you could give me your take—as a woman. Nuna.”
After all, the way a woman sees a male character is totally different from how a man sees one.
It only made sense to ask for that kind of feedback.
A short pause later.
—“Hmm… seeing it printed out like this on an actual panel… it looks even better?
I don’t think anyone’s going to dislike it.”
A very positive response.
—“At this level, it’s bound to be a hit.”
She followed it up with some encouraging words about the upcoming event.