I have a problem. Whenever I see a new message, I get an anxiety attack. This may stem from my social anxiety but who knows. All I know is that I'm always afraid that the comment is going to be negative about my artwork since it is something I take great pride in. Honestly, I don't know how to deal with this since my anxiousness has been a problem since the cretaceous period.
Recently I received a comment on one of my Valle Lacrimarum comic strips that wasn't very nice. The user said something along the lines of "The joke wasn't very funny imo". You see, the comment itself wasn't terribly mean, but it wasn't positive. Since I love petty revenge I went to their profile with the passive-aggressive intent of tearing their pieces apart. When I saw their art and read their profile I stopped. They were an artist like me who has the same dreams as I do: to create a webcomic of their own stories and beloved characters. Their artwork, however, was so painfully mediocre that I came to the conclusion this person was just jealous. I mean, they had to be right? My stuff is obviously superior and was more popular, right? I decided that petty revenge wouldn't take place on this poor soul who dared offend my work.
That same day, however, the alternative sexuality group on DA that I am apart of received a venomous comment:
"Lets use sweet innocent fandom to promote fag pride.
What more are you sick c**ts going to pervert with your filthy ideas? God forbid a f***ing character have a slight INCH of multicolored shades, without them INSTANTLY being labelled as an aids infected queer by their a large portion of repulsive fanbase.
Character is NOT a f***ing lesbian. She's a tomboy, with rainbow hair. It just pisses me off that you STD's hugging s***holes decided to design your fag flags in all these pretty colors, leading to sick stereotypes and instant labels."
And this is where I realized the comment I got about my unfunny comic was nothing. Absolutely nothing compared to what this troll conjured up. I've never dealt with this sort of hostility before. And I felt nothing. I didn't know what to feel or how to respond so nothing. The comments were of course flagged as spam but for some reason I saved the comment. Perhaps to remind myself that the anxiety I get over little comments, such as "your comic wasn't funny" or "you aren't very good at drawing this or that", is really nothing to worry about.
I am going to try to tell myself from now on "Don't let petty comments bother you." Maybe this advise to myself can help others with the same anxiety problems that I have!
