What to do in this situation

[PyrZero72]

A while ago I asked someone if I could make a mini comic involving their avatar and if they would be willing to voice their character in it once it was completed, they said yes so I started making the comic. Making this mini comic was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, it took me an entire month to complete and I put more effort into it than anything else I had drawn up till that point.
However, just two days after I completed this comic some information came out about the person who’s avatar I featured in it, this information revealed that the person in question had been involved in some very bad stuff and shortly after this info was made public they deleted all their social media and seemingly disappeared from the internet.

My question is: what am I supposed to do now? I worked so hard on this comic but now it involves the avatar of a person who’s actions I don’t condone, I personally would not feel conflicted about posting the comic since it is not as if the original person involved would benefit from it in any way and I don’t want my hard work to go to waste, but I am not sure if the community would feel the same way and even then I would not feel comfortable hiring someone to voice their character in the comic since they would probably face backlash by association.
What would be the best course of action here?

[Tril]

Post it, but describe your situation in the description

[Daichi777]

A while ago I asked someone if I could make a mini comic involving their avatar and if they would be willing to voice their character in it once it was completed, they said yes so I started making the comic. Making this mini comic was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, it took me an entire month to complete and I put more effort into it than anything else I had drawn up till that point.
However, just two days after I completed this comic some information came out about the person who’s avatar I featured in it, this information revealed that the person in question had been involved in some very bad stuff and shortly after this info was made public they deleted all their social media and seemingly disappeared from the internet.

My question is: what am I supposed to do now? I worked so hard on this comic but now it involves the avatar of a person who’s actions I don’t condone, I personally would not feel conflicted about posting the comic since it is not as if the original person involved would benefit from it in any way and I don’t want my hard work to go to waste, but I am not sure if the community would feel the same way and even then I would not feel comfortable hiring someone to voice their character in the comic since they would probably face backlash by association.
What would be the best course of action here?

Best not to post it if it goes against your morals without edits. It's like Megan Jones in the GTS community who is still active, I would personally not look at anything she's in for good reason for what she did. If she's innocent then that's on me for bringing it back up, but multiple articles describe what she was accused of doing in detail. We even had producers who had hired her back then having to post how they were not involved with her doing those things.
https://www.local10.com/news/2014/05/30 ... sh-videos/
https://www.gazettenet.com/Archives/201 ... -hg-042614

Essentially depending what it is, you're promoting someone. I've been in the same situation so I quietly changed images and no longer do stuff of others in the community if I can help it. If possible, I reckon you should change the comic so it's a different character or person. It can backfire and you will not hear the end of it if what they did is that bad. What is your art style?

[ParallelBlack]

Essentially depending what it is, you're promoting someone. I've been in the same situation so I quietly changed images and no longer do stuff of others in the community if I can help it. If possible, I reckon you should change the comic so it's a different character or person. It can backfire and you will not hear the end of it if what they did is that bad. What is your art style?

What you're describing is Twitter's witch-hunting logic. Depicting something or someone does not promote them, especially not if PyrZero adds a disclaimer. It should be their choice whether or not to post their work, not others. That decision shouldn't be based on the fear of how other people will treat them afterwards, because the only people who would ever blame Pyr for being involved with the comic (let alone considering they started working on it well before any bad info came out about the person) are not the kinds of people we need in this community.

I say post the comic with a disclaimer in the description. Better than throwing out your hard work.

[Daichi777]

Essentially depending what it is, you're promoting someone. I've been in the same situation so I quietly changed images and no longer do stuff of others in the community if I can help it. If possible, I reckon you should change the comic so it's a different character or person. It can backfire and you will not hear the end of it if what they did is that bad. What is your art style?

What you're describing is Twitter's witch-hunting logic. Depicting something or someone does not promote them, especially not if PyrZero adds a disclaimer. It should be their choice whether or not to post their work, not others. That decision shouldn't be based on the fear of how other people will treat them afterwards, because the only people who would ever blame Pyr for being involved with the comic (let alone considering they started working on it well before any bad info came out about the person) are not the kinds of people we need in this community.

I say post the comic with a disclaimer in the description. Better than throwing out your hard work.

No, what I've said is something proven time and again that it is promoting. I'm not sure what's so bad about them editing it first? That's the point of why I said it because they asked for advice?

You don't even know who, or what the issue even is. What if the person was a neo-nazi/LGBT hate spewer etc? Congrats, something's released that you just got your curiousity/fap off for and PyrZero is the one having to deal with the outcome. What if the person was made aware of this thread? Now they've got additional drama on top. You're talking crap about how the decision shouldn't be based out of 'fear', yet it has no regard for anything else. Like it or not, if the reason that the character was not liked was bad for something really bad and Pyr got disliked for it, those 'kinds of people' are still in the community even if they're not needed.

I've wasted thousands on stuff I never released or could because it was so shit quality or wrong, I don't want warped stuff of my characters that people are fond of because it changes their perspective of them. It is better to not release something regardless of how much work is done depending on the problem. BUT if you can modify it very differently that you feel proud then it's fine. And I'm not sure why that's such a problem for you if they change it first.

[jaggedjagd]

Post it, but describe your situation in the description

Also disable comments on that piece. Just to save yourself the headache.

[ProudMonsterFucker]

Personally? If I were you, I'd use the existing comic, but change the character in it to one of your own. No need to waste hard work, and if most of it is done, then it shouldn't be *too* hard to change it? Then again, I'm not an artist, so I'll leave it to you to decide- But I wouldn't post it as-is, even with a disclaimer, because some people on the internet are exceedingly stupid and will either read it and ignore it, or won't read it at all. Essentially, better safe than sorry.

[ParallelBlack]

No, what I've said is something proven time and again that it is promoting.

What does the concept of "all publicity is good publicity" have to do with the thread's topic or the specific issue I brought up?

You don't even know who, or what the issue even is. What if the person was a neo-nazi/LGBT hate spewer etc?

That is, in my opinion, completely irrelevant. The original problem is to do with depicting that person's character, not in a negative light, or a positive light, but the simple act of including them in the comic in the first place. As PyrZero stated, what the person did doesn't seem to have any bearing on whether or not they post the comic, it's entirely to do with how we the community feel about it. My opinion is that the community's opinion shouldn't matter, and that the time and work they put into the comic should take priority.

I'm not sure what's so bad about them editing it first? That's the point of why I said it because they asked for advice?
And I'm not sure why that's such a problem for you if they change it first.

Never said they shouldn't.

Congrats, something's released that you just got your curiousity/fap off for and PyrZero is the one having to deal with the outcome. What if the person was made aware of this thread? Now they've got additional drama on top. You're talking crap about how the decision shouldn't be based out of 'fear', yet it has no regard for anything else.

And this is just straight up aggression for no reason. Did disagreeing with you really paint such a harsh picture of me in your mind? Save this kind of response for someone else.

As I said in my initial comment, the decision is PyrZero's alone, not anyone elses. Do you really read that and see me as someone who just wants to see the comic, repercussions be damned...?

[LightDragon]

In my opinion it's okay to post the comic, unless the problematic person's avatar is represented in an especially virtuous or heroic way. The problem with representing a problematic person only appears if you picture them as more virtuous than they are, or minimize their crimes.

But if you're drawing the worst dictator on earth reading a book while sitting on a chair... I mean you're just drawing a guy reading a book while sitting on a chair.

I disagree with the argument that "bad publicity is good publicity". To start with, this is only true to some extent, and I don't think criminals especially get an increase in popularity after being exposed. Additionally, informing the public of this person's acts is crucial in protecting potential victims.
Finally, hiding the truth and keeping the public in ignorance is a very... medieval way to run things, in lack of a better word... That's not really the most appreciated by the public.

[Daichi777]

No, what I've said is something proven time and again that it is promoting.

What does the concept of "all publicity is good publicity" have to do with the thread's topic or the specific issue I brought up?

You don't even know who, or what the issue even is. What if the person was a neo-nazi/LGBT hate spewer etc?

That is, in my opinion, completely irrelevant. The original problem is to do with depicting that person's character, not in a negative light, or a positive light, but the simple act of including them in the comic in the first place. As PyrZero stated, what the person did doesn't seem to have any bearing on whether or not they post the comic, it's entirely to do with how we the community feel about it. My opinion is that the community's opinion shouldn't matter, and that the time and work they put into the comic should take priority.

I'm not sure what's so bad about them editing it first? That's the point of why I said it because they asked for advice?
And I'm not sure why that's such a problem for you if they change it first.

Never said they shouldn't.

Congrats, something's released that you just got your curiousity/fap off for and PyrZero is the one having to deal with the outcome. What if the person was made aware of this thread? Now they've got additional drama on top. You're talking crap about how the decision shouldn't be based out of 'fear', yet it has no regard for anything else.

And this is just straight up aggression for no reason. Did disagreeing with you really paint such a harsh picture of me in your mind? Save this kind of response for someone else.

As I said in my initial comment, the decision is PyrZero's alone, not anyone elses. Do you really read that and see me as someone who just wants to see the comic, repercussions be damned...?

I really don't care if you agree or disagree with me at all it's not up to me. And yes, you did paint yourself across as repercussions be damned because of what you chose to reply to, not address/ignored completely, and how short and ill informed it was. And you still do.

If I was being aggressive and not sarcastic, you'd know. Now if you don't mind please stop wasting my time.

[Rat_Guy]

If you're uncomfortable or if you think others might be uncomfortable then maybe you could edit each instance of the character: give them a new face/hair/skin tone.

[GREGOLE]

I personally would probably just edit the character in the comic to be someone else, along with any appropriate context clues. It would be additional work, but it would preserve the work you already spent, and it would be all your own.

Otherwise, cutting your losses may be the best bet. It'd suck, you'd have wasted a tremendous amount of effort, but it might save you some headaches down the line.

[Chameleonette]

I personally would probably just edit the character in the comic to be someone else, along with any appropriate context clues. It would be additional work, but it would preserve the work you already spent, and it would be all your own.

Otherwise, cutting your losses may be the best bet. It'd suck, you'd have wasted a tremendous amount of effort, but it might save you some headaches down the line.

Honestly, as someone who has dealt with a similar situation, I agree with this. You never know what kind of headaches you may face or who you might piss off with it, even if it doesn't make sense. In my case, it was art involving someone I was romantically involved with, but after they ditched me for someone else suddenly, they still encouraged me to post the commission I worked really hard on for them. So I did. But the person they ditched me FOR immediately accused me of trying to wreck their relationship and it was a stupid mess that I wish I had simply avoided, despite being proud of the art I made for that person.

Save yourself the trouble and edit it. I think you'll be glad you did. Because unfortunately, you can't control how anyone is going to react to it or take it, even if you take steps or say it was a commission, etc.

[Eka]

I personally would probably just edit the character in the comic to be someone else, along with any appropriate context clues. It would be additional work, but it would preserve the work you already spent, and it would be all your own.

Otherwise, cutting your losses may be the best bet. It'd suck, you'd have wasted a tremendous amount of effort, but it might save you some headaches down the line.

Honestly, as someone who has dealt with a similar situation, I agree with this. You never know what kind of headaches you may face or who you might piss off with it, even if it doesn't make sense. In my case, it was art involving someone I was romantically involved with, but after they ditched me for someone else suddenly, they still encouraged me to post the commission I worked really hard on for them. So I did. But the person they ditched me FOR immediately accused me of trying to wreck their relationship and it was a stupid mess that I wish I had simply avoided, despite being proud of the art I made for that person.

Save yourself the trouble and edit it. I think you'll be glad you did. Because unfortunately, you can't control how anyone is going to react to it or take it, even if you take steps or say it was a commission, etc.

Pretty much this,

Guys, don't try to rationalize what is and isn't reasonable. This isn't about being reasonable, legal, ethical, or anything. This is purely about risk mitigation, and when it comes to human emotion, risk comes from everywhere, in places you never knew existed until it hit you in the face.

[PyrZero72]

Thank you all for the advice, I probably will end up just editing the art. It will be a pain but it seems like the most sure fire way to avoid controversy.