Lewdtubers want you to know they\u2019re like any other VTuber \u2013 here\u2019s why Twitch: CottontailVA \/ Twitch: KaiyoVirtual content creation exploded when VTubing became more prevalent and accessible. That trend continued to more adult content. However, lewdtubers still face prejudice and stigma in various circles online \u2014 despite the fact they say they are no different to their \u2018seiso\u2019 counterparts. For Vexoria the Sun Eater, VTubing started out as a fun activity she could share with her husband Zolon. After their anniversary plans were snuffed out in 2020, they wanted to share their gaming experiences with the world. Sure, there were all the conscious choices about whether it would be a full-time thing \u2014 she was still studying Psychology at the time \u2014 or if they would both be comfortable in the long term. But there was one fact set out early on: \u201cI knew right off the bat that I could not be seiso,\u201d she laughed. \u201cI swear way too much, I make too many innuendos and too many sexual jokes. \u201cI figured being a lewdtuber would probably be more up my alley. I wouldn\u2019t have to put on a full mask. If a lewd comment came to my head as a joke, I wouldn\u2019t feel like I\u2019d have to bite my tongue about it. I can just say it and have people laugh at it.\u201d If you thought VTubing was a new phenomenon, lewdtubing is much more recent. While animated adult content has been around the internet for eons, it wasn\u2019t until Projekt Melody came into the limelight in 2020 that people started seeing this as not just an idea grounded in fiction, but something they could do themselves. Lewdtubing has taken off much more in the 3D VTubing space, where full-body animated models can play out scenarios. But it\u2019s not limited to those with full-body rigs. Nowadays, lewdtuber is used as a catch-all term for all adult content creators who happen to be VTubers. As Projekt Melody opened the world\u2019s eyes to this form of content creation, others followed suit. CottontailVA is one of the most popular lewdtubers, with hundreds of thousands of followers. It\u2019s not her entire brand, but it is a big part of the content she makes. \u201cI think it\u2019s every kid\u2019s dream, at my age range, to be a YouTuber,\u201d she told Dexerto. \u201cI grew up in the era of PewDiePie. I would watch him and I was like this is the dream.\u201d She got into voice acting work through a fan Danganronpa project that ended up falling through. However soon after an opportunity for more spicy work turned up, and from there she found her niche. \u201cYou know what\u2019s crazy? I would always say I would be a hentai voice actor because I used to join Overwatch lobbies, adults only, and I would moan into the microphone and it would help our team,\u201d she laughed. \u201cWe would turn around and win.\u201d However, despite her wild popularity and the lucrative nature of VTubing, there is still a stigma against adult content creators. And that doesn\u2019t change the moment you do it with a model. Empowering nature of an avatar VTubing as an adult creator, in the same way it does for regular streaming, can help bring anonymity and comfort to those who may not otherwise think of doing it. \u201cYou could do OnlyFans and you could show your name and face, but that\u2019s very scary to me,\u201d Cotton said. \u201cI am an acupuncturist, so if I want to someday work at a fancy clinic, they would do some research. I think I\u2019ve covered my trail pretty good, but if they found out I did NSFW stuff, they wouldn\u2019t let me into that establishment. \u201cThe carefreeness of having the safety net of still getting a job and not being blacklisted because I just did p*rn for a bit is nice. I wish it wasn\u2019t like that, but you have to play the game.\u201d It lets people explore a different side of their creativity. Lewdtubing is more than explicit video. They aren\u2019t limited to their VTuber selves if they\u2019re comfortable, and there\u2019s so many opportunities to make adult content \u2014 if that\u2019s what you want to do. \u201cI find that a lot of people who like my regular Twitch content flocked over to see the adult content to be like \u2018oh what does Vex look like,\u2019\u201d Vex said. \u201cThen they\u2019re like \u2018oh well I\u2019m going to stick around for this\u2019 or they\u2019re like \u2018maybe this isn\u2019t for me and I don\u2019t want the real-life pictures but I\u2019ll go buy the ASMR every month.\u2019 I think it gives people a choice. \u201cI\u2019ve seen people offer Discord calls, like sex calls,\u201d Cotton added. \u201cYou\u2019ve got people selling clothes. Aside from the voice stuff, you can do roleplay. If you\u2019re an artist, you can do NSFW art. If you\u2019re good at silicon molds, you can make custom [toys]. \u201cYou can do whatever you want. As long as it\u2019s not hurting anyone or illegal, it\u2019s all fun. It\u2019s freeing, after spending a lot of my adolescence being ashamed for being sexually open. It\u2019s great to be proud of it.\u201d Having an avatar is empowering for more than the creators. It can also be a good ice breaker for viewers, who may not be comfortable talking about sexual topics. Cotton and Vex have gone to conventions together to talk about adult content creation. They are also hosts of a regular sex education stream, where viewers can submit questions about topics they\u2019re curious about but never got the answer to. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of people say through the sex ed streams, they\u2019ve discovered a lot about themselves,\u201d Cotton continued. \u201cThey\u2019ve confided that they haven\u2019t been treated well in intimate events, and they appreciate us giving them self-worth back to their ability to consent and say no. \u201cIt breaks my heart to hear that, but it makes me glad to hear people notice their word is important and they are surrounding themselves with better people.\u201d The stigmatization of sex work Ask any content creator and the story of getting into streaming is pretty similar. Most see it as a great opportunity to flex their creativity, or connect with others. But when you throw \u2018adult\u2019 into the label, all of a sudden the tone of the \u2018why?\u2019 changes. There is a stigma around adult content creation, in the same way there is a stigma about sex in society. Lewdtubing is a way for VTubers to subvert those norms and express themselves freely \u2014 while also remaining somewhat anonymous. \u201cMy family grew up very religious,\u201d Cotton said. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t talk about sex. I was very interested in it.\u201d \u201cThe appeal of doing NSFW content creation is the acceptance and freedom of being judged. Especially in the VTubing sphere where it\u2019s more anonymous than your regular content creation. My face isn\u2019t out there, my name isn\u2019t out there. I do have more freedom to not worry about what those judgmental people in my real life say or think.\u201d VTubers are in many ways treated the same as their flesh counterparts when it comes to adult content creation. Platform policing is very erratic. It\u2019s hard to grow and gain traction for those who split content between Twitch or YouTube and other sites like Fansly or OnlyFans. The former do not typically allow cross-promotion of the latter. \u201cPeople will bring up stuff on Twitch and I\u2019ll be like \u2018guys? Are you trying to get me banned,\u2019\u201d Vex laughed. \u201cOr they\u2019ll use the TTS bot to say something really sexual and I\u2019ll be like \u2018guys you can\u2019t do that, I won\u2019t be able to stream for you! You\u2019ve got to be careful!\u2019 \u201cI don\u2019t call it Fansly on Twitch because Twitch doesn\u2019t allow you to solicit that kind of stuff. You can\u2019t say \u2018hey I\u2019m streaming on Fansly and all my adult content is here.\u2019 So we call it the Blue Twitch, or there\u2019s codewords.\u201d That talking in code is a hindrance. It perpetuates the stigma that \u2018sex\u2019 is dirty, and that adult content creation is taboo. For Twitch\u2019s part, it aims to \u201cmaintain the health of our community\u201d, and so bans the promotion of sexual content through links or cross-promotion. VTubers also feel unfairly policed by platforms on sexual content. There have been numerous instances of VTubers getting banned just as they debut a new model because it doesn\u2019t cover the right amount of skin. Some feel like their bans aren\u2019t justified compared to what others do on the same platforms, just with their human selves. Even between VTubers there\u2019s no clear line of enforcement. \u201cWhat someone gets banned for over here, someone may not over there,\u201d Vex continued. \u201cIt\u2019s the wild west when it comes to that kind of stuff, because god forbid you show underboob!\u201d It can cost lewdtubers opportunities: both Vexoria and Cotton have shared stories of lost sponsorships and deals because of one side of their content. It doesn\u2019t matter about what else they do \u2014 Vex is also known for her charity work \u2014 it all comes back to the lewds. Some adult brands support VTubers, but often they cannot get the same sponsorship benefits as mentioning said services on Twitch or YouTube is banworthy. This makes the money less lucrative than what they could be earning for their brand worth. On top of that, there is the stigma that adult content creation is \u2018dirty money\u2019. If you have a family to support on that income, like in the case of Vex, fingers get pointed. \u201cI send my children away every time I do something adult, but people are still out there saying \u2018how are you going to explain to your children that you do this?\u2019 They don\u2019t know that I do adult content because they\u2019re young and I would never tell them that. \u201cThe money I make from that kind of content? It pays for their clothes, their school supplies. I\u2019m a parent and I\u2019m of the mindset that I\u2019m going to do what I have to do to take care of my kids and make sure they have everything they need to be successful in what they want to do with their life. \u201cIf the money I make from lewdtubing lets them go to college and pursue their dreams, go and take all that money.\u201d While women make up the majority of lewdtubers online, men are not excluded from the same criticisms. They sometimes face prejudice for the audiences who consume their content \u2014 content \u2018made for women\u2019 often leads to female fans being harassed. But they also face the same arguments of dirty money, having to talk in code, and being policed. Kaiyo is an example of success in the male adult content creation space. While he doesn\u2019t consider himself a \u2018lewdtuber\u2019 fully, he produces NSFW voice acting work which draws massive engagement. In fact, that\u2019s the most popular medium for men working in the lewdtubing space. \u201cIt\u2019s something that developed the more I was in the VTubing community,\u201d he explained. \u201cI never thought I would do this. \u201cI actually just made that other account for posting art I didn\u2019t want to post on main. It started off as purely a NSFW art account, but one day I was like \u2018what if I just posted an audio\u2019 because there were so many other people, especially guys, doing it. I went with the flow and now we\u2019re here. The expansion of lewdtubing into new domains and audiences shows the appeal for this kind of content is there. \u201cI think a lot of it popped off from TikTok,\u201d he continued. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people on there, they hear any sound that sounds like a moan or whimper and they go crazy. That hype transferred over to Twitter and made this whole thing about men whimpering.\u201d Why the \u201cseiso vs lewd\u201d debate helps no one Every six months or so, a new debate emerges in the VTubing community about who has it harder: seiso (safe) content creators, or their lewd counterparts. The arguments from both sides have some merit. Seiso creators believe creating adult content is a cheat code to get more engagement and grow. Lewd creators highlight the stigma that comes with doing that, and while the numbers can be higher, the comments can be harsher. What gets lost in this is, at the end of the day, they\u2019re all creating content. It\u2019s just different strokes for different folks. \u201cThere\u2019s always going to be people who believe in the purity of VTubing,\u201d Vex admitted. \u201cSeiso VTubers have their own struggles, and I know lewdtubers have their own too. I think it\u2019s important to remember that everyone who does this is a person and you don\u2019t have to be a f**king asshole.\u201d While it\u2019s more closely tied to Vex and Cotton\u2019s whole brands, Kaiyo\u2019s NSFW content is more cleanly segregated from his usual streams and videos. Having that clearer definition \u2014 across accounts \u2014 can be more appealing for brands, or even audiences who want one or the other. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to have an audience I can post content for and not have to worry about getting to know them too much. For my main side, it\u2019s important for me to get to know my community and get to know my regulars,\u201d Kaiyo explained. \u201cI have a lot of viewers from my seiso side that follow my NSFW stuff. In the beginning, I thought it was necessary to let them know about it\u2026 it was easy support by letting your current following know. At first, it was awkward, but I\u2019ve gotten used to it now and it\u2019s fun.\u201d However, he remarked on how \u2018wholesome\u2019 creators sometimes are \u201cheld in a higher regard. \u201cI don\u2019t know why it matters so much to people about what other people do if it\u2019s not harmful. It\u2019s very unnecessary and immature. We\u2019re all consenting adults here. There\u2019s no need to be so weird about it. \u201cThere are so many tweets that I see\u2026 when people are like \u2018if I was being lewd and doing spicy content, I would have grown so much more easily. I\u2019m working harder and not getting anywhere because I\u2019m seiso.\u2019 I see that so often. I got a pretty decent audience before I started doing NSFW content. A lot of people use that as a scapegoat.\u201d It also plays into consent. Lewdtubers all said they were more careful in the communities they engaged with. They have strict age rules, and also they are more deliberate in the company they foster. In the same way there is consent in sex, there is consent in sexual content. \u201cYou have to consent in everything you do,\u201d Vex said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t, that\u2019s grounds for legal issues. \u201cHaving those open, communicative conversations, and having that consent, is extremely important to have a really good time with whatever you\u2019re doing sexually. That doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s with a partner you\u2019ve been with for a super long time, or a complete stranger and it\u2019s a one-off.\u201d No matter what lewdtubers do, there will likely be people abhorred by the fact people make sexual content online. What matters from there is how they react to that energy. Do they step away from creating altogether and giving up their passion, or finding their own community? \u201cSometimes they\u2019re almost offended by me being open sexually, but I\u2019m not here to make anyone uncomfortable, so I don\u2019t need to interact with that,\u201d Cotton said. \u201cI don\u2019t like that feeling of rejection, dismissiveness, or shame that I had growing up with sex. I don\u2019t bother with people who can\u2019t let people do their own thing. And ultimately, the more we talk about it, the more accepting the community will become. \u201cYou have Projekt Melody, who paved the way for the rest of us to go ahead and be ourselves and do what we want to do and have it be acceptable and made it more mainstream for people like myself and Cotton and other lewdtubers to be comfortable with doing that kind of thing,\u201d Vex concluded. \u201cMy hope would be that people would be able to be who they are and not be judged for it. Even if people don\u2019t do lewd content themselves, just be able to appreciate the craft for what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lewdtubers want you to know they\u2019re like any other VTuber \u2013 here\u2019s why Twitch: CottontailVA \/ Twitch: KaiyoVirtual content creation exploded when VTubing became more prevalent and accessible. That trend continued to more adult content. However, lewdtubers still face prejudice and stigma in various circles online \u2014 despite the fact they say they are no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}