This is in regards to LordSuperstar (who apparently renamed themselves to Peruano recently), one of the artists who's been in a few of the Ponut Packs, and who was upset about not being re-invited. Being a part of the Ponut Pack meant a lot to LordSuperstar. It was something he was very excited about, and enjoyed working on. I'd like to clarify what happened, and why he ultimately wasn't re-invited to PP6.
LordSuperstar has been difficult to work with, mainly due to their inability to speak English. They communicate entirely by feeding things in and out of google translate, which only works on a very basic level. This has created problems in the past. During PP4 LordSuperstar became deeply offended when one of the artists in the group made a joke about photoshopping a 1% opacity Jesus into a character's eye-reflection, which stems from an inside-joke about hiding silly things in your art and seeing how long it takes before someone notices it.
LordSuperstar is apparently deeply religious, and he conveyed to me in DM that he was offended by the joke and did not like that other people were OK with the joke. I wanted to avoid drama, since LordSuperstar has been a bit sensitive about these sorts of things in the past. So my immediate response was "alright guys let's keep it professional, no religious memes." Personally, I didn't like the idea of 'censoring' chat, and I'd prefer people talk or joke about anything they like. But LordSuperstar seemed quite upset, and we didn't want him to feel uncomfortable, so I thought this was a reasonable compromise for now.
Unfortunately, LordSuperstar genuinely thought I was being sarcastic, and nothing I could tell him would convince him otherwise. We talked in DMs for over an hour, but due to the language barrier, I was unable to properly explain the situation. It felt like everything I tried to say only made the situation worse, so I eventually just told him to chill out and try to move on. He did the polar opposite of chill out, he became religiously-heated in the artpack group chat, and it was making everyone very uncomfortable. It got so bad that I had to explain that if he continues to start drama, we'd have to remove him from the chat entirely. He'd still be able to submit art for the pack, but he wouldn't be able to participate in chat until he calms down.
Eventually he calmed down, but truthfully I think he felt more suppressed than calm. I ended up spending at least 2 hours talking to him in DMs, doing my best to comfort him despite the language barrier. I think he felt silenced, like he was not allowed to voice his opinions anymore. Again, that's not the message I wanted to convey, but our inability to properly communicate made it seem this way. Luckily it turned out that one of the artists actually speaks his native language, and was able to communicate with him more properly. Sadly, even that didn't solve anything. The artist who speaks his language had told me in DMs that he has a lot of growing up to do, and nothing good came from it.
Despite all of this, we still invited LordSuperstar to PP5 later on.
During PP5 LordSuperstar was causing even more trouble, now using the artpack chat as a place to vent his frustrations and routinely stress everyone out. I understand he needs someone to talk to, but the chat is not the right place, it can hurt the other artist's motivation pretty bad. He was struggling with his art this time, complaining daily about how he's not going to make it, and ended up submitting his work absolute last minute. Myself and other artists helped him out, red-lining his art, giving him advice, and doing anything we could to motivate him. Everyone was really nice about the whole situation.
When it was all said and done, LordSuperstar ended up doing less than half of the minimum requirements for PP5. He did not understand the pack's guidelines at all and he did not follow the pack's theme. Normally submissions of this quality couldn't be accepted, as it would be unfair to the other artists who've worked hard to fulfill all of the requirements. But his work was accepted regardless. He tried very hard on his pictures, and I felt it was the right thing to do. Though after that, we decided not to reinvite him for PP6. Although I know he's very enthusiastic about these projects, it's just too much stress for us to deal with.
Ultimately LordSuperstar felt like he was being banished from the group, and decided to make the situation very public on his social media. I think it really gives the wrong impression about me and what these art packs are supposed to be, so I felt obligated to share my side of the situation. Considering my efforts to make things work, it is somewhat heartbreaking to see him write such terrible things about me on every single social platform he uses, while also blocking me from all of them so I have no chance to respond or explain myself. However, I'm not upset with him, and I don't resent him for doing this. It can be difficult to convey emotions with text alone (especially when you don't even speak the same language), and a lot of this is a matter of miscommunication.
And LordSuperstar, if you're reading this: I hope you're doing well and staying safe.
