‘Mouthwashing’ Devs Respond After Social Media Mob Harasses Multiple Artists Over Anya Fan Art: “It You Can’t Be Respectful And Considerate, This Fandom Is Not The Place For You”
In the latest example of social media puritanism run amok, developer Wrong Organ has issued a stern warning to fans of their indie horror game Mouthwashing after their more self-serving members spent the past week harassing and attacking multiple artists who they believe used their talents to ‘sexualize’ the title’s resident medic, Anya.
A first-person adventure game set against the silent horror of deep space, Mouthwashing sees players put into the role of a crew member aboard the Tulpar transport freighter, which during a post-delivery return journey suffers a catastrophic mechanical error and ends up crash landing on an uncharted planet.
Left stranded with few resources to their name, the Tulpar’s five-person crew spend the game’s runtime trying to navigate not only their own survival, but also the social and psychological tensions that have resulted from both their relative workplace isolation and their near-death experience.
And it is among this small crew that one can find the aforementioned Anya.
The medic of Tulpar and its only female member, Anya is presented as a good-hearted woman who, though slowly losing grip on her sanity due to the trauma of the crash and the events that follow after, does her best to provide physical and emotional care to the rest of the crew (well, at least most of them).
Thanks to both her personality and her Shelley Duval-inspired appearance, Anya quickly endeared herself to the internet at large, and as a result the medic soon found herself being depicted in multiple pieces of fan art.
Unfortunately, many of these illustrations drew condemnation from the moral busy-bodies among the Mouthwatering fanbase, who accused any piece that so much as depicted her with defined breasts as ‘sexualizing’ the (as explained in-game) sexual assault survivor.
Such reactions can be found in the Twitter replies and quote retweets of pieces drawn by such artists as SpoiledMuffin:
지미, 이 나쁜자식! 그러지 마! pic.twitter.com/sKkHWhOLlo
— SpoiledMuffin (@6rgwFx78fXpJtqr) November 13, 2024
Rakusakugk:
https://t.co/wgCxL3qw6E pic.twitter.com/QdOJDtfrpP
— ✏️ (@rakusakugk) November 22, 2024
And USA, the last of whom responded to the outrage against their admittedly more ‘suggestive’ piece with an apology.
Anya👄🫧 pic.twitter.com/Z9dvfQRfP3
— USA (@USA37107692) November 22, 2024
“I apologize for making everyone feel uncomfortable. I was listening to a live video of this game while I was drawing, and the moment I saw Anya, I thought she was cute, so I drew her,” they explained. “I haven’t watched everything thoroughly, so I don’t know much about this character… Sorry everyone”
As a result of the overwhelming amount of vitriol these pieces drew, Wrong Organ eventually chose to step-in and address the situation themselves, doing so by way of a post shared to their official Twitter account on November 24th.
“Some Mouthwatering fan creators have been receiving harassment over works that others have found distasteful,” wrote the developer. “If you see fan works that you do not like, block/ignore it. ANY form of harassment is unacceptable. If you can’t be respectful and considerate, this fandom is not the place for you.”
Holding a current price-tag of $12.99, Mouthwashing is now available to play exclusively via Steam.
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