Zelda With a Pearl Earring
After Nixeu’s “ZELDA [Girl with a Pearl Earring]”
Dear Nixeu, aren’t you ashamed?
I can’t imagine posting fanart —
it’s too personal. There’s something
about drawing, all those hours
spent staring at a character I love,
that feels unsafe. It’s funny —
all the intimate writing I publish,
essays on queerness, gender,
shame; all the hate mail — shut
your mouth, you navel-gazing
bitch — and I don’t stop writing
but I won’t post my cosplays;
I’ve stopped drawing entirely.
There’s some ringing in my ears
still — another sketch of Link?
My hand smudged with graphite.
Eyes blurry from so close a focus.
What are you, obsessed? I wish
I heard that junior from study hall
instead, the one who saw me
sketching, saw multiple dates
in the margin, asked — Did it take
you all those days to draw that?
And when I said yes, all she said
was Wow. She smiled and still
my brain said: She hates you.
Freak. You’re so stupid and single
-minded. It never occurred to me
to combine two classics, Nixeu.
Your art is beautiful — and even
with 100k views on your Zelda,
there’s not one nasty comment.
