Indie creators are often going to give you more of what you want than mainstream creators in terms of representation. Supporting them is imperative to changing industry standards. That doesn’t always mean turning your back away from the big fandoms, but sometimes it does mean giving something the more deserved attention for doing things right.
(I’m also going to add that all this “fic writers are better than original” shit? Stop with it. A lot of this indie content comes from fic writers who struggle to get their original works out there. Yeah, your faves are producing their own content. Another reason to start caring.)
I’ve ranted about this a million times on this blog, perhaps less so in these past couple of years than I did before. A good reason for this is that I was sucked into a big fandom of my own, where the best I’ve got is a million hints that one guy loves another enough to end his own life and vocally damn the rest of the world for this one man. I know my ship will never be canon, and honestly, it wouldn’t be so bad if they’d at least bother to confirm that one of them is gay. The other one gets killed, anyway, though that’s a problem regardless of his sexuality. That’s just bad writing. /coughs
I mean, indie writers are fucking petrified to see people tear apart other writers. Everything about this current Vtrn shit makes me nervous to even bother to share my stuff. I don’t think anyone is entitled to anything other people make, but I do think there is room for criticism. (And it can be a delicate line, because some criticism isn’t going to mesh with other criticism. There’s quite a thick line, though, for stepping into threats. Y’all know where that line is and cross it anyway, and fuck you all for that.)
As a creator, you can’t always make other people happy. That’s a fact. It is upsetting that people are pushed by studios and publishers and such to make characters straight, cis, white - and oftentimes, they want male writers who write male characters, period.
Don’t beat yourself up if you enjoy something mainstream, of course! Just...be aware that if you do crave something, you sometimes have to dig past the popular stuff. I know that’s easier to grab. Trust me, I know. But please, if you notice indie creators upon your dash, add their books to your to-read list. Consider looking into those movies. You might not enjoy their stuff, but you gave them a chance, just as you did with the mainstream stuff.
I know people might read this as my wanting this attention on my stories, and I’ll not pretend that wouldn’t be nice? But this is about so much more than me. There is a reason I’ve been screeching about Yuhki Kamatani for ages. An asexual nonbinary mangaka from Japan has written several works where they’ve provided representation for trans, intersex, gay/lesbian characters. (And different body types, like Katarina - who is absolutely threatening in a physical fight!)
The business model is that they want to appeal to the biggest audience and sell the most games/books/movie tickets/etc. But lesser known writers (not just indie, but them too), are out here offering their hearts in their work. That’s important.
I remember complaining about this, and someone I had to later block misinterpreted my posts as being that I didn’t want gay representation. ‘Cos I came off way more salty about it back then. I’d blatantly stated that people say they want representation and then they DON’T ACTUALLY GO FOR IT. They’d rather yell at people like Jo/ss Whe/don and Mo/ff/at and all the others to fix things!
And flat-out, I still see that shit. You think mr straight white likes ‘em young is gonna give five fucks about your gay pairing unless they’re for-the-male-gaze lesbians? AHHHhahaha good luck. He’s doing fine, he’s rich, he has his formula. And trust me, people will forgive them for doing ANYTHING, but...indie and lesser known creators? Oh, they had BETTER not fuck up. And good job, you destroyed their entire careers by ganging up on them. Meanwhile people like Dvd Cge still make whatever they please and make bank. So this is about more than people not being able to afford going to the movies or something. This sometimes involves people having no issue putting down three times as much money as a movie to buy a game from someone that they disagree with.
Sorry to whine about this shit again, I’m just very exhausted by this shit happening over and over again all the time. I wonder how many followers I will lose for this one? Hmmm. (And yeah, shit like this used to mean drops in followers, especially any time I insult the holy fucking man M/of/fat. Still remember that time someone pointed out his “diverse” women as a joke to show they were all the same brunette in a power suit with their hair styled similarly and my follower count dropped by 7 in like 20 min of reblogging it. \o/
And I recognize that a lot of people do want lgbt+ characters and it’s a struggle to get them in mainstream. They are trying. That’s pretty admirable, at least, though I won’t deny that I think sometimes it turns out to be a bit of a disaster. I hope they continue to push. They’ll make changes from the inside. But I still feel that we as consumers (yes that’s me, too! I’m not just a writer!) need to be vigilant in supporting the less popular people who’ve been writing what we want from their hearts and similar wishes.
Ultimately, I can’t tell anyone what to do. What to watch, what to play, what to read. What to consume. Again, I like some stuff that can fall under, well, insufficient? When it comes to what I want to see. And representation doesn’t make something good, but that’s more reason to keep hunting for the good stories. I promise they’re out there. It’s a search. Keep a flashlight handy.
