Man, I just finished watching the livestream. I have empathy, probably more than I should and I used to think I was a good judge of character, but I’ve decided in the last several months that may not be as true as I thought. But watching that, it is difficult for me personally not to believe she really is humiliated and upset by all this stuff coming to light. And we all made dumb, dumb mistakes in our past. And as others her have pointed out, of goddamn course being sexually abused as a child will fuck you up sexually for life.
All that said, Nan was still an adult, albeit a younger adult when she drew these things. And it’s hard to believe she really didn’t know she was making kiddie porn for perverts. How much crossover was there between the fetish community she was active in and the people who commissioned her work with cartoon characters? I’m a bit older than Nan, but I don’t know any of these characters except Rainbow Brite because I used to play with the dolls and watch the cartoons at, like, six-years-old. When people want you to draw children’s cartoon characters for them, sexualized in any way, or with the artist’s own fetish imposed on the work, how could she not know what was going on? She wasn’t raised under a rock.
Furthermore, people who engage in stuff like this, it often can escalate into worse and more daring situations unless they’re finally exposed, held strictly accountable and urged to get all the help they desperately need. Before they actually do go to far one day and do hurt someone or cause someone to get hurt with their actions. So, I can feel empathy for someone, logically understand how something might have put them on a scary path, but also not feel bad they got found out and forced to own up. Even if it is humiliating and painful.
Also, the fact we’re all under fucking lockdown right now should be enough to understand having something like a communicable disease fetish isn’t entirely personal. It’s potentially quite dangerous to people around you when your kink happens to be catching and acting in a way that could spread illness.